Nation’s Mayors Call on U.S. Senators to Oppose the SAVE Act

In a newly released letter, the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on federal lawmakers to vote against any effort to restrict voting

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill that would mandate proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification to cast a ballot. A wide range of civil rights, religious, and social justice organizations warn that, if passed, the SAVE Act would disenfranchise millions of American citizens, particularly women, racial and ethnic minorities, and new voters.

In response to Senate Majority Leader John Thune's (R-SD) announcement that he would bring the legislation to the Senate floor this week, U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran sent a letter to senators highlighting the Conference's opposition to any effort that would restrict voting. Based on the Conference's adopted policy, Cochran calls on senators to vote against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.

In the letter, Cochran asserts:

… there is no need for this legislation. There are no indications that our country has a voter fraud problem. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, "extensive research…shows that fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators." This extends to mail ballots, which have been proven to be secure. And it is already both a federal and a state crime for noncitizens to either register or vote in elections and instances of noncitizens voting are extremely rare.

The letter continues:

... the SAVE Act would insert chaos into our election system, which is run by state and local governments, not the federal government. It would place a massive unfunded burden on state and local governments and expose election officials to significant legal risk if they make an honest mistake in registering a citizen to vote. And as passed by the House it would take effect on the date of enactment, thus requiring massive changes in the voter registration system shortly before the midterm elections are to occur.

The full letter can be read HERE and below.

Dear Senator:

I write on behalf of the nation's mayors to urge you to oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act when it comes up for a vote next week. The adopted policy of the Conference of Mayors opposes any effort to restrict voting and that's exactly what the SAVE Act would do.

First, there is no need for this legislation. There are no indications that our country has a voter fraud problem. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, "extensive research…shows that fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators." This extends to mail ballots, which have been proven to be secure. And it is already both a federal and a state crime for noncitizens to either register or vote in elections and instances of noncitizens voting are extremely rare.

Second, the SAVE Act would make it considerably harder for potentially millions of eligible Americans to exercise their democratic right to vote. As many as 21 million Americans don't have ready access to proof of citizenship. Up to 69 million women have birth certificates that do not match their current name. All nonpartisan nonprofit-led voter registration drives would be ended because only government officials would be able to review and accept the proof of citizenship. This would also be the case for online voter registration and mail-in registration since the bill makes no allowance for proof of citizenship to be provided digitally or via paper copies.

Third, the SAVE Act would insert chaos into our election system, which is run by state and local governments, not the federal government. It would place a massive unfunded burden on state and local governments and expose election officials to significant legal risk if they make an honest mistake in registering a citizen to vote. And as passed by the House it would take effect on the date of enactment, thus requiring massive changes in the voter registration system shortly before the midterm elections are to occur.

In accordance with our adopted policy and for these reasons, the U.S. Conference Mayors urges you to vote against the SAVE Act.

Sincerely,

Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director