Save us from the SAVE Act

Below are points to consider when calling or emailing our Senators:

Lack of easy access to documents:

A 2023 survey conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, and other groups found that over 9% of voting-age American citizens do not have easy access to documents that prove their citizenship, including a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization certificate.

That percentage was slightly higher—11%—for Americans who did not identify as white.

The survey defined easy access as being able to “quickly find” such documents if people “had to show them tomorrow.”

Impact on those whose name differs from their birth certificate
Ceridwen Cherry, Legal Director at VoteRiders, made the following points:

The bill would create barriers for many married women who wish to register or update their registration.

An estimated 69 million women have changed their names at marriage, and these voters cannot use their birth certificates to prove US citizenship.

They would have to rely on other forms of proof of citizenship, like a passport — a document almost 150 million Americans do not have.”

The law would also impact anyone who has changed their name for a myriad of other reasons, including divorce or a change based on personal preference.

Weakens the protections provided under the National Voter Registration Act.

Justin Levitt, a professor of constitutional law at Loyola Marymount University’s

law school, made the following points:

While most local registrars absolutely operate in good faith, there are increasingly registrars with an agenda.

Federal law currently protects voters against such registrars, but the SAVE Act would substantially weaken those protections.”

Eviscerates many of the most popular voter registration methods

Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center, makes the following points:

Registration by mail, online, voter registration drives, and automatic registration would no longer be possible if people are required to show up in person with their citizenship papers.

Criminalizes the actions of Election Officials

A provision in the bill makes it a federal crime for election officials to register anyone who does not present ‘documentary proof of citizenship.’
How many election officials would risk incarceration and steep fines to register someone whose documentation does not match their current name?”

The above points can be found on FactCheck.org. The link is provided below.

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LOCAL IMPACT

The SAVE Act is an unnecessary piece of Federal legislation.

The Heritage Foundation ranks Tennessee number one in the nation for election integrity.

It is already a Felony for a non-citizen to vote in local, state, or federal elections in Tennessee.

Under legislation passed in 2011, the Division of Elections already verifies citizenship through cross-referencing our voter rolls with information provided by the Dept of Safety and Homeland Security.

The SAVE Act will decrease voter turnout, which is already low in Tennessee.

In 2020, Tennessee ranked 41st among the 50 states, Washington, D.C., in voter registration, and 47th in voter turnout for the presidential election. (TennesseeOutlook.com)

Turnout in Tennessee decreased by 5.3% in the General Election 2012-2024. (WorldWidePopulation Review)

The SAVE Act will have the most significant negative impact on rural counties in Tennessee.

The five counties with the lowest voter registration rates are Weakley (70.3%), Morgan (68.2%), Lauderdale (67.5%), Trousdale (66.4%), and Lake (56.9%). The state considers Lake County a distressed county, with the second-highest poverty rate in Tennessee at 27.9%.

Hancock, Clay, Scott, Campbell, Lake, and Perry counties averaged less than 55% voter turnout. Some rural counties like Polk, Clay, and Sevier have registration rates over 88%, but saw fewer than 60% of those voters show up at the polls. (TennesseeOutlook.com)

If you need more points to consider, please check out the LWVUS Page: Save Act

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