GOP lawmakers on Thursday pushed a bill through the House of Representatives that would make voting more difficult for tens of millions of Americans.
|
Listen To This Story
 |
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill that would make it more difficult for millions of Americans to vote, which is why it was one of the GOP’s top legislative priorities this year.
Everything about the SAVE Act is an abomination, starting with its name, which indicates that it will somehow contribute to conducting safer elections when, in reality, it will disenfranchise countless voters.
Which brings us to its stated purpose. The legislation is supposed to make it illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. However, this is already against the law, and the penalties are quite severe. Ineligible voters who cast a ballot risk a felony conviction, a hefty fine, and up to five years in prison.
In addition, contrary to the (false) lamentations of Donald Trump and other Republicans, this almost never happens.
In other words, a bill that GOP lawmakers claim is vitally important to “election integrity” addresses a problem that doesn’t exist by offering a solution that already does.
Of course, the real goal of the legislation is to make it more difficult for some Americans to vote by putting hurdles in front of them that will be too high for millions of them.
GOP lawmakers hope that the barriers they erect in this way will keep more Democrats from the polls than Republicans, which means that the only thing the legislation would “save” is their edge in elections.
On its face, the SAVE Act sounds reasonable. It requires voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register or update their registration.
However, millions of Americans, especially low-income or older voters, do not have the necessary documentation or the money to obtain it.
The SAVE Act could also disenfranchise women who changed their name after a divorce.
That is why actual election integrity groups uniformly reject the legislation, which passed largely along party lines with all Republicans supporting it and only four Democrats joining them.
“Let’s call the SAVE Act what it is: a modern-day poll tax. This legislation is a direct attack on every American citizen, preventing tens of millions of people from exercising our constitutional right to vote,” said Virginia Kase Solomón, the president and CEO of Common Cause.
“If this bill becomes law, millions of hardworking Americans will have to either shell out money getting the right papers to prove their citizenship or have no say in the next election for Congress and president,” she added.
The legislation is now headed to the Senate, where Democrats are expected to filibuster it.
