Despite numerous calls to Congress and floods of concerns from constituents at town hall events, today the House of Representatives passed the extremely unpopular and highly controversial bill, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility” (SAVE) Act (H.R.22/S.128).
Tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the SAVE Act (H.R.22), a bill that has sparked widespread opposition from constituents, voting rights advocates, state election officials and members of Congress. If passed, the SAVE Act would require every single American citizen to present documentation to prove their citizenship when registering to vote or updating their voter registration, chiefly by either presenting a passport or a birth certificate in person. Experts warn that millions of Americans do not have these specific documents readily available, and would especially impact married women whose last names no longer match their birth certificate, rural and military voters, young voters, and communities of color.
On Wednesday, March 5th, U.S. Representative Terri Sewell (D-AL) introduced the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. This bill would help realize the promise of American democracy by restoring, updating, and strengthening the protections of the Voting Rights Act for the 21st century.
Today, the Declaration for American Democracy coalition recognized the communities across the country that have been vocal on the need to pass transformative democracy legislation. In February, several Members of Congress addressed their constituents to reaffirm their support for the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act at in-district democracy roundtables, with several more currently in the planning stages in the coming weeks.
We thank President Biden for putting democracy front and center in his extremely strong speech, and urge him to follow up his words with action to protect our freedom to vote.
We thank President Biden for putting democracy front and center in his extremely strong speech, and urge him to follow up his words with action to protect our freedom to vote.
