Today the House passed the SAVE Act, H.R. 22, a bill that would require American citizens to show a birth certificate, passport, or another document proving their citizenship when they register to vote. Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, had the following comment:
“The House has just passed one of the worst pieces of voting legislation in American history. The Senate must stop it. The SAVE Act would put voting out of reach for millions of American citizens. It should not become law.”
Background
More than 21 million American citizens don’t have the documents required by the SAVE Act readily available. The bill would effectively eliminate forms of voter registration that millions of voters rely on: registering by mail, online, and through voter registration drives would no longer be possible. The SAVE Act would also create chaos for election administration by imposing significant burdens on election officials and disrupting the systems that keep our elections running smoothly.
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.