In doing so, the introduction of the Save Act has added fuel to a bitterly divided discussion around the future of voter registration in America. This introduced legislation would require that Americans who wish to register or re-register to vote provide verification of their US citizenship. These detractors claim the Save Act would disenfranchise millions of voters. They’re convinced this is mostly because of its dependence on proven-to-be-false conspiracy theories about voter fraud. Invisible barriers Millions of Americans don’t have easy access to the documents needed to prove citizenship. This is an important issue that would dramatically curtail their ability to protect their voting rights.
The Save Act would require individuals to present documentation such as a passport or a birth certificate to register to vote. Yet over 21 million US citizens of voting age lack convenient access to these documents. Only slightly more than one-third of American adults even have a passport. Many don’t have paper copies of their birth certificates, making these requirements significant barriers to voter registration. These obstacles can make things even more complicated for married women. When their legal names do not match what is on their birth certificate, it increases the barrier to registration.
We know that non-profit organizations have historically been an important engine for increasing voter registration. Their lineage can be found in the League of Women Voters and other civic organizations that motivated women to register as soon as the 19th Amendment was ratified. The Save Act would be a fatal blow to these efforts. It would all but eliminate non-partisan civic organizations’ ability to conduct voter registration drives. This arbitrary restriction would upend more than a century of democratic engagement efforts. These movements have been instrumental in spurring millions of new voters to the polls.
Research recently published by the Brennan Center for Justice highlights the value of making voter registration processes as accessible as possible. Additionally, the Save Act’s technical requirements would severely limit online and mail-in registrations, creating additional hurdles for future voters. This added complexity will surely present new financial and logistical burdens. The people this will hit the hardest are those individuals who need to replace a lost or stolen birth certificate. Due to these changes, millions of Americans will be stripped of their right to vote. This is a change that will unnecessarily burden every voter, election official and poll worker.
The Save Act’s influence on the practice of voter registration and conduct of elections in the United States would be immense. By putting up hurdles to registration, the bill would greatly disenfranchise Americans, especially those in communities of color. We have seen critics claim that these measures, influenced by these debunked conspiracy theories, are overly unnecessary and harmful to democratic participation. The prospect of millions being excluded from the electoral process would not only impact the integrity and inclusivity of future elections.