Today, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed yet another version of the SAVE Act (S. 1383), which would require American citizens to show documents like a birth certificate or passport in order to register to vote. Research by the Brennan Center et al. shows that more than 21 million U.S. citizens of voting age don’t have ready access to these documents. The last effort to pass the SAVE Act failed before having a Senate vote due to broad public opposition.
Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, reacted as follows:
“It’s now up to the Senate to stop this bill before it prevents millions of eligible American citizens from voting. If enacted, it would be the first time in our history that Congress passed a law restricting access to voting.”
Background