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The SAVE Act isn’t about Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility — it’s about making it harder for millions of American citizens to vote by imposing unnecessary and burdensome documentation requirements.
If passed, the SAVE Act will require all Arizonans — more than 5 million voting-age citizens — to provide documentary proof of citizenship in person when registering to vote, updating their voter registration, and even casting their ballot. This requirement means they must present as documentary proof of citizenship 1) a passport or 2) a birth certificate accompanied by a government issued photo ID, and the name on the ID must match your birth certificate exactly.
Online and mail-in voter registration — lifelines for rural voters — would be eliminated, forcing people to travel in person during business hours to an election office just to register or update their information. For rural Arizonans and members of tribal nations, this could mean an eight-hour round trip, sometimes even requiring crossing state lines.
Who will suffer the most harm?
Married women: Over 1.5 million married women in Arizona have changed their last names after marriage, meaning their birth certificates no longer match their current legal names. Studies show that 80% of married women take their spouse’s last name, leaving them without a birth certificate that reflects their legal identity. Marriage licenses won’t count as proof. If you don’t have a passport, you’ll be forced into a costly, time-consuming process to obtain new documentation. Nationwide, 69 million women face this barrier.
Seniors: Arizona is home to 1.6 million seniors, many of whom have been voting for decades, but who would now need to reprove their citizenship if life circumstances require them to move. They would need to obtain a passport or track down their birth certificate to update their voter registration. This places an unnecessary burden on older Americans.
Veterans and service members: Arizona has over 600,000 service members and veterans, many of whom frequently move due to deployments. Military families would no longer be able to use their military ID as proof of citizenship. Instead, they would have to produce a birth certificate or naturalization documents every time they moved. Our military personnel and veterans have already sacrificed for our country — they shouldn’t have to jump through additional hoops to vote.
Disaster victims: Arizona has experienced wildfires and natural disasters that have forced families to flee their homes, often leaving documents behind. Under the SAVE Act, losing critical documents in a disaster could mean losing access to the ballot. Navigating bureaucratic red tape just to replace lost paperwork could disenfranchise disaster victims.
Check your documents now! Do you have a passport? Does your birth certificate match your current legal name? Can you access these documents easily?
The SAVE Act is designed to suppress votes — not Safeguard American Voter Eligibility. Millions of Arizonans will face unnecessary obstacles if this bill passes.
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This post was originally authored and published by Pinny Sheoran from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
