Congresswoman Simon to Vote NO on the SAVE Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will vote against H.R. 22, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. This legislation would disenfranchise millions of American voters with extreme, burdensome requirements; and by ending automatic, online, and vote-by-mail registration. The SAVE Act would also criminalize election officials for making simple mistakes related to voter registration.

“Existing federal law already prohibits non-citizens from participating in our federal elections. The SAVE Act does not further protect from non-citizen voting – it only creates a federal takeover of our state election systems and makes voter registration an unnecessary nightmare for ordinary people,” said Congresswoman Simon. “The SAVE Act is President Donald Trump and House Republicans’ latest attempt to dismantle our democracy by stripping voting rights from millions of married women, service members, and rural Americans under the false pretense of securing elections from voter fraud. This bill doesn’t save us from anything.”

The SAVE Act would require American citizens to present a valid passport or birth certificate that matches their current name in order to register or re-register to vote. If the SAVE Act’s proof of citizenship requirement goes into effect, over 28% of Californians who currently do not have access to a passport and over 7 million women in California whose married names do not match their birth certificates risk losing their right to vote. 

As a lifelong civil rights organizer, Congresswoman Simon is committed to protecting Americans’ fundamental right to vote and opposes this effort that will upend our election systems, put a literal cost on who gets to participate in American democracy, and silence millions of Americans. 

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