A Texas Republican’s bill requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote is sparking alarm among civil right organizations.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, seeks to prevent noncitizens from voting, which is illegal and exceptionally rare. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who introduced the House bill, said in a statement that many undocumented immigrants have been given the opportunity to register vote in federal elections, but he did not provide evidence.
“American elections belong to American citizens, and the public’s confidence in those elections is the cornerstone of our republic,” Roy said.
The bill has drawn ire from voting and civil rights groups, who worry millions of people, including married women who have changed their last names, could be excluded from voting. In an email Friday to The Dallas Morning News, Roy called the backlash against the bill “absurd armchair speculation.”
UNDER THE SAVE Act, those registering or re-registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport or tribal or military card that shows a U.S. birthplace.
It is unclear whether other forms of identification, including a REAL ID, would work alone. Opponents of the legislation say they would not meet the requirements laid out in the bill because they do not list a birthplace.
Identification must be presented in person, essentially eliminating mail, online registration and voter registration drives.
AN ESTIMATED 21.3 million people do not have ready access to proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice.
The bill would most affect voters of color, married women who changed their last names and younger and elderly voters, the center says. The SAVE Act does not include proof of name change or a marriage certificate as acceptable proof of identity.
The bill would also require states to purge noncitizens from voting rolls.
“If enacted, it would devastate voter registration while disenfranchising tens of millions of eligible American citizens,” the center wrote in an analysis posted to its website.
In an email, Roy noted the bill directs states to establish a process for applicants to provide additional documentation to establish citizenship if there are discrepancies due to issues like a name change.
“This bill isn’t being attacked because it’ll exclude citizens from voting — it won’t,“ Roy said. ”It’s being attacked because the policy is wildly popular with the American people.”
LAST YEAR, the House passed the bill, but it stalled in the Democratic-led Senate. With Republicans in charge of both the House and Senate, the bill has a better shot this year but would still need to sway a handful of Democrats to avoid a filibuster. U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, has introduced the bill in the Senate.
Cleta Mitchell, founder of the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, said in a statement that married women who want to change their names must show numerous documents to do so.
“It is a pain but millions of women do it every day,” she said. “It is beyond idiotic to claim that a formal name change somehow keeps people from being able to prove citizenship.”
