Cantwell Joins State & King County Leaders to Warn of Proposed Barriers to Voting

Cantwell Joins State & King County Leaders to Warn of Proposed Barriers to Voting

NEW DATA: Cantwell snapshot report shows House-passed SAVE America Act could disenfranchise millions of Washingtonians - especially residents in rural areas & women who took their spouses' names; Cantwell announces WA Sec of State Steve Hobbs will be her guest at Trump's State of the Union Address next Tuesday; Former Secretary of State Sam Reed (R) releases statement in opposition to the SAVE America Act

SEATTLE, WA - On Thursday, February 19, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined local leaders and elected officials to defend voter access and Washington's Vote-By-Mail system from overreach by the Trump administration. The administration and Republicans in Congress are advancing the SAVE America Act, changing the rules for postmarking ballots and trying to force states to turn over voter data.

The SAVE America Act, which passed the House of Representatives last week 218-213 and is awaiting a vote by the Senate, is a "show your papers" mandate that would require Americans to present, in person, either a passport or birth certificate to election officials in order to register or change their registration to vote.

"The House of Representatives passing the SAVE [America] Act by a very narrow margin is going to cost America," said Sen. Cantwell. "It will cost Washingtonians time and money, and it may even cost them their vote. That is why we are trying to say the Senate should not pass the SAVE [America] Act."

"The SAVE [America] Act would make it harder for Washington citizens to vote," said Stuart Holmes, Director of Elections for the Washington Secretary of State. "It would also create administrative responsibilities at the state and county elections offices -- collecting, verifying documents, developing new systems, training elections staff, and most importantly educating the voters of these complex, complicated requirements. And ... none of this comes with any federal resources to implement this multi-million dollar effort."

"The SAVE [America] Act does not save or safeguard," said Julie Wise, Director of King County Elections. "Our laws already do. Instead it creates real barriers that will cause Americans from this Washington to the other Washington to lose access to the ballot…. Democracy works best when all voices are heard. And our democracy is based on free and fair elections. Passports and birth certificates are not free. Changing the rules just months ahead of the election is not fair."

"The SAVE America Act is a threat and assault on our democracy," said Barbara Tengtio, President of the League of Women Voters Seattle King County. "It does not save anything. It puts voting out of reach or difficult for citizens -- starting with women, people of color, young people, older people … Here in Washington state we vote by mail. And the Act says we're supposed to provide ID in order to cast a ballot. Just exactly how will that work?"

Sam Reed (R), who served as Washington's Secretary of State from 2001 to 2013 and as the Thurston County Auditor prior to that, was unable to attend the event, but released this statement:

"Neither the President nor Congress should be in the business of micromanaging elections. As a longtime Republican election administration official, I adamantly support our nation's constitutional framers' decision that the election process be decentralized to states.

"I oppose the SAVE [America] Act. It gives the federal government new powers of discretionary regulation. It empowers ideologues to sue election administrators. It forces states to turn over voter rolls to federal overseers. It abolishes vote-by-mail -- the preferred system in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Hawaii, Nevada, and Vermont. In my experience, vbm [vote-by-mail] best fits modern lifestyles. More important, it provides the opportunity for voters to become better informed before casting ballots.

"I subscribe to my party's fundamental and historic commitment to local control. It is a time-honored Republican principle that 'government closest to the people is best.' That importantly includes the conduct of elections."

Sen. Cantwell also announced that Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs will be her guest at President Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 24. "I am asking Secretary [of State] Hobbs to join me at next Tuesday's State of the Union address. I hope to bring attention in Washington, DC, to Washington's voter laws, our unbelievable participation in vote by mail, and why my colleagues have to stop the SAVE [America] Act. The Senate should instead protect our voting rights [and] protect us from the bureaucracy that is not going to create free and fair elections. We have to fight back."

Sec. Hobbs released this statement: "Election access and security are not competing values. Washington has long made voting accessible while also protecting the integrity of the system and the personal information voters entrust to their government."

Yesterday, Sen. Cantwell released a snapshot report showing who in Washington would face undue hurdles to voting if the SAVE America Act were signed into law. The report shows that certain populations - including people who live in rural areas, women who changed their name after marriage, and people who recently moved - would face additional, cumbersome burdens to prove their citizenship.

"This bill would ... force every voter who needs to register or change their registration to go in person to an election office and show a birth certificate or a passport or proof of citizenship," said Sen. Cantwell. "Why are we putting these burdens on Washington voters? About 40% of Washingtonians don't have a passport. Young voters, senior citizens, [and] disadvantaged [voters] are most likely not to have a birth certificate. Many people will have to wait. Many people will wait to the last minute to read the ballot and see the new rules too late to replace those missing documents."

"If the Senate passes this bill and [it] goes to the President's desk, it will take effect immediately," Sen. Cantwell added. "It will affect the next election. That is why we felt so strongly about our snapshot report, which shows the cost of a passport can be $165. A replacement of a birth certificate in Washington to cost anywhere from $28 to $51 depending on what county you live in. And these are changes that just are going to make it more difficult for people who don't have time to get those documents."

"What will the effect of these new proposals be? You've already registered to vote and affirmed your citizenship," said Tengtio. "Now with the SAVE America Act, you must find your birth certificate or passport, travel to the elections office, stand in line - and, yeah, there will be a line -- and get reregistered. How and when will you do this? You are working -- you need to take time off. You need to get child care, possibly find transportation."

The SAVE America Act could disenfranchise millions of Washingtonians:

• According to the Center for American Progress, approximately 2.8 million citizens in Washington do not have a passport.
• Approximately 1.6 million women in Washington state who have taken their spouse's name do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.
• Under the SAVE America Act, Washingtonians who want to register to vote, or need to change their name, the address where they are registered, or other details would need to travel in-person to their county elections office and show proof of citizenship.

The burden would fall hardest on Washingtonians living in rural areas. This would affect voters in all 39 of Washington's counties, but for example:

• In King County, a Skykomish resident would need to make an approximately 3 hour and 40 minute round trip drive to the county election office in Renton and back.
• In Pierce County, a resident of Ashford would face a 3 hour round trip to the county elections office in Tacoma.
• In Snohomish County, an Index resident would face a 2 hour and 10 minute round trip to the county elections office in Everett.

The House passed the bill after President Donald Trump called on Republicans to "nationalize the voting," saying, "The Republicans should say, we want to take over, we should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places."

Although the U.S. Constitution expressly gives states authority to determine how to administer their elections while reserving authority for Congress to address elections by passing legislation - without giving the president authority to unilaterally interfere in elections - Trump has also said he intends to act on his own to changes the rules for elections, "whether approved by Congress or not!" Moreover, Trump has threatened voting by mail, saying, "There would be no mail-in ballots."

Washington state started vote-by-mail in 1983, adopted optional vote-by-mail in 2005, and enacted universal vote-by-mail in 2011.

Sen. Cantwell has been a staunch defender of Washingtonians' voting rights and the vote-by-mail system - both of which have come under attack in recent weeks.

• On Feb. 5, she appeared on MSNOW's Morning Joe to push back against the Trump administration's heightened efforts to interfere in state-run elections and collect private data on American voters. Video of Sen. Cantwell's appearance is HERE; a transcript is HERE.
• On Jan. 29, Sen. Cantwell joined Senate colleagues in a letter to AG Pam Bondi, pushing the Department of Justice (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. DOJ has sued 24 states and the District of Columbia demanding the personal information of their voters.
• On Jan. 15, she joined Senate colleagues in a letter to United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General David Steiner raising concerns with recent developments affecting postmark practices.
• On Jan. 9, she joined 13 Senate colleagues in filing an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in Watson v. Republican National Committee, a significant case the Court will hear this year that affects voting by mail. The case, brought by the Republican National Committee, threatens the election administration practices of states like Washington that permit the counting of mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day to be counted when they are received within a certain number of days after Election Day.

Video of TODAY'S entire press conference is HERE; video of Sen. Cantwell's opening statement is HERE; photos are HERE; and a transcript of Sen. Cantwell's opening statement is HERE.

Additionally, Sen. Cantwell yesterday joined election officials and community leaders in Clark County in urging Washingtonians to fight back against these new burdens to voting.

A press release about that Vancouver event is HERE, video is HERE, a transcript of Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey's remarks is HERE, and a transcript of Sen. Cantwell's remarks is HERE.

READ MORE -- The Columbian: Sen. Cantwell says election fraud rare, SAVE Act would create barrier for Clark County voters