From Claudia Looze

Highland

To the Editor:

The House narrowly passed the SAVE Act last year, and now that bill, repackaged as the SAVE America Act, is headed to the Senate, where it could come up for a vote soon. If it becomes law, this federal bill would rewrite how Americans register to vote by forcing documentary proof of citizenship in person and effectively gutting mail-in, online, and automatic voter registration systems that states currently run. That’s a big deal because it could silence millions of eligible voters before the next election.

The SAVE Act is not about “election integrity.” Citizenship is already required to vote.

So what’s the point? Easy: disenfranchise millions of American citizens (nearly 80 million) and quietly roll out a modern-day poll tax, which is illegal, (the 24th Amendment in our Constitution explicitly forbids that).

Supporters claim they’re fixing a massive problem. They’re not. They’re “solving” a problem the way you solve a hangnail: by amputating the whole hand.

They say they’re protecting democracy. They’re not. They’re protecting power.

Look at the numbers they love to wave around. Michigan, the state they point to as proof that “non-citizens are voting in droves.” In 2024, Michigan had 5.7 million voters. Of those, 16 were non-citizens, 13 of which were criminally charged because voting as a non-citizen is a felony with up to a $250,000 fine and deportation.

So yes, the system already works. The SAVE Act “solves” a problem that is statistically nonexistent.

So what would people need? A passport or a certified birth certificate, and if you’ve changed your name? Congrats — now you’ll need a passport or a pile of legal paperwork to prove you’re you. 

And let’s not pretend this is “neutral.” It’s a direct hit at women, who are the most likely to have changed their names after marriage, meaning they’ll be the ones scrambling to prove they’re themselves.

Either option costs money: roughly $150-500.

So yes: you can vote…as long as you have spare cash, spare time, and your hobby is government paperwork.

There’s also another hitch: passport processing has been gutted. So can you even get one in time for November?

Maybe! Maybe not!

The SAVE Act isn’t voter security. It’s voter suppression with a patriotic bumper sticker.

The real issue isn’t non-citizens voting. The real issue is that Americans aren’t voting (in 2024, only 64% of Americans voted).

But sure — let’s make voting even harder. That’ll definitely help.