‘SAVE’ Who?
By Sydney Johnson
Courtesy of Rolling Stone
The ‘Safeguard American Voter Eligibility’ or ‘SAVE’ Act was passed in the House of Representatives last week.
The legislation's expressed purpose is to validate the citizenship of voters; however, these requirements are not what they seem. Many citizens by birth do not have adequate identification expected for the polls, creating issues for the upcoming mid-term elections.
The bill outlines specific forms of identification that U.S. citizens must use to register to vote. These include U.S. passports, birth certificates, military ID, or even hospital birth records.
“Requiring voters to produce passports or birth certificates on election day — as opposed to just a state-issued ID — would have placed an unnecessary burden on the voters. That provision is no longer in the bill, and dropping this requirement was key to getting my support.”
Stated by Maine Senator Susan Collins to The Maine Wire, who is in support of the new legislation. Despite this claim, state-issued ID serves only as proof of citizenship in 5 states, excluding Maine, leaving the aforementioned identification methods as options for citizens.
The issue with these requirements is that many Americans do not have a U.S. passport, which is a primary proof of citizenship. There are also many eligible voters who do not have access to their birth certificate or to a document proving citizenship. However, according to federal data, 0.04% of voter verification data comes back as non-citizens, so what is this really for?
With the rise in violence perpetrated by ICE and general xenophobia from the White House, it is not far-fetched to see this as an act of voter suppression. Using the non-existent threat of foreign influence in elections to create legislation barring Americans from voting is an imminent threat to the democracy of the United States.
“I think that's what's really going to happen going forward, and what we're going to see is a lot [of] smaller chunks being taken away from us on our personal freedoms under the guise of big change happening." Said Qadar Al-Uqdah, a Hampton University business major. Even though this bill is meant to ‘protect’ our elections, if passed, it will inhibit many citizens from using their right to vote.
What will happen to the wives whose birth certificates do not match their married names? Or elderly citizens who cannot find theirs? Orphans? The SAVE Act will likely decrease the number of eligible voters participating in the upcoming elections, and given the current administration's approval rating, it could be the bill's true purpose.