Issues
Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) sponsored H.R. 8281, the so-called Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or SAVE Act, which would require individuals to provide a document proving citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, when registering to vote in federal elections. Voting by ineligible non-citizens is extraordinarily rare, election administrators are already well equipped to prevent it, and existing legal penalties for it are severe. The SAVE Act would seize on anti-immigrant fervor to make registering to vote significantly harder for many millions of eligible voters, including citizens born in the United States. It would thwart online voter registration, voter registration drives, and voter registration by mail. A majority of all United States citizens do not have passports. Many millions cannot readily access their birth certificates, and millions of people, particularly married women, do not have birth certificates showing their current legal name. Driver’s licenses would not suffice even in states with existing strict voter ID requirements. A healthy environment requires an inclusive democracy in which every eligible voter can register, vote, and have their vote counted. This legislation would severely undermine that right. On July 10, the House passed H.R. 8281 by a vote of 221-198 (House roll call vote 345). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.