WATCH: Schumer, Padilla, Morelle, Voting Rights Advocates Reject Republicans’ SAVE America Act, Trump’s Attempted Elections Takeover

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, U.S. Representative Joe Morelle (N.Y.-25), Ranking Member of the House Administration Committee, and voting rights advocates held a press conference rejecting Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans' attempted election takeover, including through the SAVE America Act, an extreme voter suppression bill that the Senate is expected to begin to debate as soon as today. The push to pass the anti-voter legislation follows President Trump's threat to stop signing legislation until its passage.

Schumer, Padilla, Morelle, and voting rights advocates from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Defend the Vote Action Fund, League of Women Voters of the United States, and the Brennan Center for Justice outlined their fight to protect the right of every eligible American to vote and ensure that vote is counted.

"The SAVE America Act isn't a voter ID bill - it's a voter suppression bill," said Ranking Member Padilla. "Trump and Republicans want to get their hands on sensitive voter information, conduct mass voter purges potentially kicking off eligible voters, and make it as hard as possible for those Americans to re-register to vote. As long as this anti-voter bill is on the floor, Senate Democrats will fight it in full force and push back against this Administration's lies."

"The SAVE Act, the SAVE America Act, and the MEGA Act are nothing more than the latest tools in Republicans' election-takeover toolkit. Don't believe the lies and false justifications for this attempted voter suppression-American elections are already secure," said Ranking Member Morelle. "We are laser-focused and will use every tool available to us to stop all forms of this attempt to take over our elections, and we will continue fighting to protect Americans' right to vote."

"Instead of lowering costs or ending the chaos they've created, MAGA Republicans are trying to make it harder for Americans to vote," said Leader Schumer. "They know their agenda is failing, so they're changing the rules. The SAVE Act isn't about election security - it's about voter suppression: putting Trump's DHS in charge of who stays on the rolls, purging eligible voters, and blocking millions from registering. That's not democracy, that's election rigging. Democrats will fight it with everything we've got."

"We have real problems in this country, and we all face them together, no matter whether we live in rural Georgia and work on a tractor or we're a child care worker in California; whether our name is Maria or our name is Mary," said Maya Wiley, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. "I say this because directly at the heart of this is to come for what we fundamentally built in the civil rights movement when we said you can't stop us by rigging the rules when we have every right to vote because you don't like how we vote. What we say is earn our vote; don't block us from the ballot. And the thing to understand about the SAVE America Act that you've already heard - it's about coming for the power of 'We the People.'"

"Donald Trump has made clear he'll do anything to hold onto power, including preventing eligible Americans from voting. The SAVE Act is part of his effort," said Brian Lemek, Executive Director, Defend the Vote Action Fund. "This bill goes far beyond voter ID, putting barriers in the way of voting, eliminating common voter registration methods, and even forcing states to hand over sensitive voter data to the Department of Homeland Security. Americans don't like it, don't want it, and won't stand for it."

"The American people are not fooled by empty promises or political theater. We have seen this Administration pledge to protect our freedoms while simultaneously working to dismantle them. Make no mistake: the SAVE Act is one of the most brazen attacks on women's voting rights in the League's 106-year history. By creating a system of deliberate erasure for 69 million women, this bill doesn't secure our elections; it architects exclusion. In a country where only 64% of eligible voters turned out to vote in the last Presidential election, this bill threatens to lock the door on nearly half the nation. Democracy must invite voters in, not lock them out. Reject this legislation," said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters.

"The SAVE Act would be the most restrictive voting bill ever passed by Congress. It could block as many as 21 million American citizens from casting a ballot. Despite this, President Trump has made the bill a top legislative priority. For more than a year, his administration has taken steps to undermine our elections. The SAVE Act is just the latest example," said Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.

Trump and Republicans' latest attempt to pass anti-voter legislation threatens to disenfranchise millions of eligible Americans in an election year by requiring all 50 states to hand over their unredacted voter rolls with sensitive personally identifiable information to the Trump Administration. The Trump Administration is seeking to build a national voter file by coercing states to provide sensitive voter data to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice (DOJ), which will likely lead to Americans being purged from voter rolls using the flawed Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program. The SAVE America Act comes as DOJ has filed 30 lawsuits against states and the District of Columbia - including states led by Democrats and Republicans - for their refusals to turn over their unredacted voter lists.

Republicans' SAVE America Act would eliminate most common forms of voter registration, including voter registration drives, online and mail registration, and same-day registration, reducing the number of voters who can register and participate in elections. It would also make voting significantly harder for as many as 69 million married women, along with seniors and rural, low-income, and minority voters. It would disenfranchise up to 21 million citizens who can't readily access their passports and birth certificates. If enacted, the SAVE America Act would be effective immediately, sowing chaos in state election administration and fueling attacks against hardworking election officials by exposing them to new criminal liability.

The bill comes as Trump says that the federal government "should take over the voting" and that when it comes to elections, states are mere "agents" of the federal government. The Constitution gives power over elections to Congress and the states, not the executive branch. Trump has said that by passing the SAVE America Act, Republicans will "guarantee the midterms" and "never lose a race in 50 years."

A video of the full press conference can be watched here and can be downloaded here.

Padilla has led the charge opposing President Trump and Republicans' reckless attempts to restrict the right to vote. Last month, Padilla took to the Senate floor to condemn Congressional Republicans' attempts to pass the SAVE America Act. Last May, he stopped Senator Mike Lee's (R-Utah) attempt to pass the anti-voter SAVE Act through the Senate by unanimous consent. He also convened a Rules Committee Democrats spotlight forum focused on Congressional Republicans' SAVE Act and Trump's illegal anti-voter executive order. As President Trump marked 100 disastrous days in office, Padilla led his Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor to speak out against the SAVE Act and the Trump Administration's attacks on election integrity. Last April, he warned Secretaries of State, Lieutenant Governors, and Chief Election Officials across the country of the devastating potential impacts of the SAVE Act, concerns that have been echoed by top election officials across the country. Padilla also led a letter sounding the alarm on the devastating impacts on voting rights in Native American communities of the SAVE Act and Trump's executive order.

In January, Senator Padilla and Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) led 26 Senate colleagues in pressing DOJ to stop its unlawful pressure campaign to coerce dozens of states into providing the Trump Administration their voter rolls, which include voters' personally identifiable information. Last October, Padilla and Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.) filed an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit opposing the Trump Administration's illegal ongoing attempts to purge state voter rolls across the country by developing a massive interagency database of Americans' sensitive personal data. Additionally, Padilla and Representative Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio-03) announced the Voter Purge Protection Act last year to prevent the Trump Administration's ongoing voter purge efforts, including by prohibiting the removal of individuals from the voter rolls due to changes in residence or not voting in previous elections.

###