Durbin Outlines Various Obstacles Americans Would Face When Attempting To Register To Vote Under The Republicans’ SAVE America Act

Durbin Outlines Various Obstacles Americans Would Face When Attempting To Register To Vote Under The Republicans' SAVE America Act

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, outlined the various obstacles that Americans would face when attempting to register to vote under Republicans' SAVE America Act, legislation that is designed to prevent Americans from exercising their fundamental right to vote. Under the SAVE America Act, which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote, driver's licenses and other government-issued IDs, including a REAL ID, alone would not be sufficient. According to a nonpartisan study by the Brennan Center and the University of Maryland, more than 21 million Americans who are eligible to vote-or about one out of every ten voting age citizens-do not have documents readily available to prove their citizenship.

Durbin said, "What this proposal [the SAVE America Act] would do is [create] a dramatic change in registering to vote in America. Let me be specific. With this proposal, the proof that you have to present of your identity when you register to vote changes dramatically. When you look at the second page of [the bill], they start listing what you have to bring in to prove that you are eligible to vote. The first suggestion is a passport. Well, half of the people in America, roughly half, own a passport and half do not… Creating this as a standard [showing a passport to vote] in the election in November… can you imagine what's going to happen at the passport office?"

"The second opportunity you have to prove you're really an American is to present your birth certificate. [There's a] problem. [It] turns out a substantial number of Americans don't have a birth certificate, and they have to obtain one [under the SAVE America Act]. And secondly, there's a problem with a birth certificate if it reflects a maiden name of a woman before she was married. There has to be a change made there," Durbin continued.

Durbin concluded by highlighting the Supreme Court case, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, and the cost of obtaining a passport-which is one of the documents that would allow someone to register to vote if the SAVE America Act passes.

Durbin said, "In Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, the Supreme Court declared that any poll tax was unconstitutional. The nation had already ratified the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, which declared citizens' right to vote in federal elections 'shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.' The Harper case involved the poll tax in the State of Virginia. You know how much the poll tax was in Virginia when that case was decided? One dollar and fifty cents. Compare that to going out to have a passport issued to you and paying $165."

Video of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Audio of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

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