Action opportunity: Write to your Congressperson
The week of March 31, the US House of Representatives is expected to consider the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act” (HR 22). According to Nonprofit Vote and other sources, the bill would require proof of citizenship for registering to vote in any and all federal elections (which existing law already requires). A comparable bill passed the House last year.
Please see the LWVUS’s opposition to HR 22 here.
The bill would require all voters to provide, in person, to an election official, documentary proof of citizenship – a passport or birth certificate – any time the voter registers or updates their registration. A Real ID would not be acceptable proof of citizenship, nor would military IDs alone.
What this would mean is that, if HR 22 passes Congress, the League would not be able to register voters for federal elections. According to Nonprofit Vote, this measure would effectively end all third-party voter registration drives, and any state’s online voter registration, for all federal offices. It would require the Multnomah County Elections Division (MCED) to revert to far more costly and labor-intensive in-person voter registration.
If you have enjoyed and would like to continue voter registration following naturalization ceremonies, and any other League voter registration for federal offices, please contact your member of Congress to express your opposition to HR 22, and request your member’s position on it.
To confirm your Congressional representative, click here.
If HR 22 passes Congress, the League would not be able to register voters for federal elections.
