The SAVE Act—the Republicans’ attempt to strip voting rights from millions of Americans under the guise of “safeguarding” elections that are already quite safe—is now headed for debate in the Senate, and President Donald Trump is pushing hard for the bill. Top Democrats say the GOP's real aim is to “rig the system” by putting paperwork and ID barriers in front of millions of currently eligible voters, and that the bill is part of a larger, ongoing effort to undermine trust in elections and reshape rules in Trump's favor.
Under the SAVE Act, people would have to show “proof of citizenship,” in the form of a passport or a birth certificate, in order to be allowed to register to vote.
But 21.3 million people (more than 9 percent of Americans) don’t have these documents readily available, and at least 3.8 million don’t have them at all, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Just over half of Americans (51 percent) lack a passport, a document that is time-consuming and costly to acquire or replace.
The SAVE Act will also disproportionately impact women who have changed or hyphenated their names—which is over 80 percent of women married to men.
Likewise, elderly voters, young voters and voters without the financial means to acquire these documents will be overwhelmingly impacted.
The post The SAVE Act Isn’t About Election Security. It’s About Blocking Women, Young and Low-Income Voters appeared first on Ms. Magazine.