Despite persistent voter fraud claims by the Trump administration, rates of noncitizens voting in elections are very rare. A 2017 analysis of 42 jurisdictions, which tabulated 23.5 million votes, found noncitizens were referred for investigation in just 30 cases, or 0.0001% of votes. (Adobe Stock)
Washington News Service: Voting-rights advocates in Washington are sounding the alarm about two bills in Congress they said would disenfranchise millions of voters in the state.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act passed in the U.S. House last week and a broader package known as the Make Elections Great Again Act has been introduced.
Tony Ivey, senior politics and democracy manager for the group Washington Conservation Action, warned the SAVE Act would require a passport or birth certificate matching a voter’s current name in order to register – documents millions simply do not have. He stressed the requirement would block eligible voters from the ballot box.
“One-point-five million women in the State of Washington have a name that does not match their birth certificate; 2.7 million Washingtonians do not have a passport,” Ivey pointed out. “It puts our vote-by-mail system completely in a mess. Automatic voter registration is no longer going to be possible.”
House Republicans said the legislation is necessary to quell a tide of noncitizens voting but research shows actual instances of noncitizen voting amount to a fraction of a percent of all votes, and most are mistakes which are quickly corrected. The SAVE Act is on its way to the U.S. Senate, where it is unlikely to pass. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has said the bill would impose “Jim Crow-type laws” and called it “dead on arrival.”
Doug Lindner, senior director of judiciary and democracy for the League of Conservation Voters, said even though the bill is unlikely to make it to President Donald Trump’s desk, it is still important to see it in the context of a broader effort.
“MAGA Republicans in all three branches of government are trying to roll back democracy and take away our right to choose our own leaders, because they know that their agenda is unpopular,” Lindner contended.
Ivey noted along with women, the law would disproportionately affect people who are elderly or have disabilities, as well as low-income and rural Washington residents, by restricting mail-in ballots.
“This is devastating for rural voters who are going to have to be traveling hours in order to be able to just simply register to vote or update their voter registration,” Ivey stressed.
He added Washington’s current voter registration systems, including through Medicaid enrollment and the Department of Motor Vehicles, are efficient and secure. He emphasized state and county officials already have all the information they need to verify who is able to cast a ballot and who is not.
Written and produced by Isobel Charle