WASHINGTON — Today, Michelle Kanter Cohen, Policy Director and Senior Counsel at the Fair Elections Center released the following statement on House Passage of the so-called “SAVE Act,” which would make it harder for millions of Americans to vote.
“The so-called SAVE Act is a cynical attempt fueled by anti-immigrant politicians and conspiracy theorists to make it harder to vote and spread distrust in our elections. As an organization that has litigated against documentary proof of citizenship requirements because they make it harder for eligible people to vote, we’ve seen that hard-to-get and expensive document requirements make it harder for citizens to vote, and don’t solve any problem with our elections. Recent studies show that around ten percent of voting-eligible Americans do not have documents to show their citizenship. Those citizens are more likely to be women, low income people, and from communities of color.
And let’s be clear: there is absolutely no evidence of widespread non-citizen voting in state and federal elections. Voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is incredibly rare, and when it happens it is often a mistake. The extremely harsh consequences of deportation and prison time sufficiently deter noncitizens from voting in state and federal elections.
We can’t let bad actors breed fear, spread hate, and alienate our immigrant friends and neighbors for their own political gain. Instead, our representatives should pass laws to ensure that everyone, regardless of race or background, has equal access to the ballot.”
