(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection - Letter to the Editor)

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is up for a vote soon in the U.S. Senate, having already passed in the House. This legislation would require voters to present documentation proving their U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote. While that may sound like a common sense measure, it is crucial to take a step back and look at how voter registration is currently conducted. At this time, the onus to verify citizenship is on local and state boards of elections, and the public servants there who work diligently year round to verify voter registration information. They do this so the process is not a hardship for the voter. This bill would change that, putting the burden of proof on citizens themselves. For many, including military families who move frequently and must register to vote with every new address, registering to vote may drop a lot lower on the list of priorities.

Not only will it disenfranchise voters by making registering to vote more difficult, it does so under the guise of solving a problem that does not exist. As a reminder, it is already illegal for those who are not U.S. citizens to register and vote in federal or state elections. There are heavy penalties in place for doing so, including deportation, serving as a deterrent from even making an attempt. The incident rate of voter impersonation fraud in America is between 0.0003% and 0.0025%, according to the Brennan Center. A Bipartisan Policy Center analysis of The Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Cases database found 77 instances of noncitizens voting in 24 years of U.S. elections, between 1999 and 2023. This legislation is not likely to make that number much smaller.

What it will do, however, is make it harder for West Virginians and Ohioans to register to vote. Drivers’ licenses and Real IDs are proof of identification, but not citizenship. Only birth certificates and passports are proof of both. This means, under the SAVE Act, citizens will have to present one of those in order to register to vote. But according to American Progress, as of 2024, only 20% of West Virginians have a current passport. Only 37% of Ohio residents have one. And while you can also use your birth certificate to prove your citizenship in lieu of a passport, you can’t if your current name does not match the one you were given at birth. This will add a hurdle to the process for married women or those who have changed their last names at any point in their lives.

This effort to protect elections from being marred by the votes of non-citizens is only going to backfire, making it more difficult for Americans to register to vote. Call your U.S. Senators now to ask them to vote against the SAVE Act.

Meryl W. Clark

Williamstown