House Passes Modern Day Poll Tax in SAVE Act

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act (HR 22), legislation that will make it significantly harder and more expensive for tens of millions of American to vote in elections. Under the proposed legislation, every American would have to provide in-person proof of citizenship to register to vote and update their voter registration. Additionally, the SAVE Act would make it impossible for Americans to register to vote by mail, end voter registration drives, and end online voter registration for 42 states.

Statement of Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón

Let’s call the SAVE Act what it is: a modern-day poll tax. This legislation is a direct attack on every American citizen, preventing tens of millions of people from exercising our constitutional right to vote.

If this bill becomes law, millions of hardworking Americans will have to either shell out money getting the right papers to prove their citizenship or have no say in the next election for congress and president.

Proof of citizenship potentially disenfranchises 69 million married women whose new last names do not match their birth certificate, Republican voters who are less likely than Democrats to have passports to prove citizenship and would erect significant voter registration hurdles for the service men and women protecting our country overseas.

But that is the point of this bill: to make it so difficult to vote that many people will give up on voting all together. Every U.S. Senator who cares about protecting our right to the ballot must vote down this poll tax in any form. Common Cause and our 1.5 million members will make sure every Senator hears from the people that this bill is dead on arrival.

To read the “Myth v. Fact” Common Cause one-pager distributed to House offices, click here.