Attorney General Dan Rayfield, along with a coalition of 17 state attorneys general, has voiced opposition to the federal bill H.R. 22, also known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. This legislation is believed by the coalition to erect additional barriers for U.S. citizens attempting to prove their citizenship, potentially impacting millions of voters.
"This law just makes it harder for people to vote," stated Rayfield. "We can protect the integrity of our elections while still making sure that every legitimate voter has an equal opportunity to cast their ballot without obstacles or discrimination."
The proposed SAVE Act seeks to amend the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by necessitating documentary proof of citizenship from individuals wishing to register to vote. The coalition believes this requirement undermines three decades of progress aimed at eliminating voter registration barriers and fostering increased democratic participation.
In their communication to House Speaker Michael Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the coalition cited studies indicating that non-citizen voting is exceedingly uncommon, even in regions with substantial immigrant populations, accounting for a mere 0.0001% of the votes. Yet, the SAVE Act is seen by the attorneys general as imposing severe burdens on eligible voters, disproportionately affecting poor and minority communities.
The Act would enforce several barriers, including the need for costly documentation like passports or birth certificates matching current names, and would require in-person presentation of citizenship documents, hindering the online voter registration systems used by 42 states, they argue. This poses a significant challenge for married women with name discrepancies on birth certificates and for active-duty service members unable to visit local election offices.
The coalition further underscores the potential impact on over 21 million voting-age citizens who lack immediate access to passports, birth records, or naturalization documents. "And 80% of married women would not have a valid birth certificate under the SAVE Act because those women chose to adopt their partner’s last name,” they note.
Additionally, there are concerns about the financial and administrative strain the Act would place on state election systems. States would need to overhaul their voter registration processes and establish new document verification mechanisms, potentially criminalizing mistakes by election officials with penalties reaching up to five years imprisonment.
The letter was endorsed by attorneys general from Maryland, Illinois, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai’i, Vermont, the District of Columbia, California, Maine, Washington, New Jersey, and Michigan.