WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Congresswoman Hillary Scholten (MI03) voted against the SAVE Act, legislation passed by House Republicans that, despite its name, would make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to vote—especially women, service members, Native Americans, and rural voters.
“Let me be clear: only United States citizens should be deciding our elections. Republicans are trying to sell the SAVE Act as a way to stop non-citizens from voting, but we know that’s already illegal. What this bill really does is make it harder for citizens to vote, especially women,” said Rep. Scholten. “This bill doesn’t solve a real problem—it creates one. A busy working mom juggling a job, kids, and everything else life throws at her shouldn’t have to jump through bureaucratic hoops just to exercise her fundamental right to vote. That’s not election security. That’s voter suppression.”
The SAVE Act would hit married women particularly hard as it requires the name on one’s birth certificate to match the driver’s license exactly. As many as 69 million women could be impacted simply because they changed their last name when they got married. Under this bill, those women could be blocked from registering to vote without a passport, which costs $130.
In addition, Military and Tribal IDs would no longer be valid, which would put a steep burden on Native Americans and service members who would be required to submit sensitive military records just to cast a ballot.
West Michigan, in particular, is also home to many individuals who were born in the South and came North to find freedom during the Great Migration, who changed their names upon arrival to start a new, more liberated life. Many haven’t been back to the counties they were born in for decades. Under the SAVE Act, they would be forced to track down their original birth certificate from their birth county and jump through unnecessary hoops.
Scholten voted no to stand up for every American’s fundamental right to vote—no matter their name, background, or ZIP code.
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