Reject the SAVE Act

People supporting the SAVE Act seem to believe that even one vote by a noncitizen is too much to risk, and proof of citizenship should be required whenever registering or changing your voter registration, even though voting by noncitizens is already illegal.

They ignore the thousands of Iowans who would be disenfranchised from their constitutional right to vote under this act — particularly people without this documentation currently, people who have changed their names, people like students who move often, and people far from the county seat or who have limited transportation options. And name changes may require additional documentation — that is left to the states to decide.

When Kansas enacted a requirement to require proof of citizenship at registration in 2013, the law ended up blocking the voter registrations of more that 31,000 U.S. citizens that were otherwise eligible to vote, per the AP.

This act requires that people appear in person at their county auditor’s office to provide proof of citizenship (birth certificate, passport, or naturalization document) every time they register to vote or change their voter registration (name change, party affiliation change, or new address). No more voter registration drives, no more online registration or mail-in voter registration.

The additional burdens and costs placed on people just to register or update their voter registration is the very definition of voter suppression. Democracy is better when every eligible voter can participate. Please tell your Senators to vote NO on the SAVE Act.

Vicki Aden

Iowa City