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Republications shoot themselves in the foot again with the SAVE Act [1]
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Date: 2025-02-21
H.R. 22, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), introduced by Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX), requires voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration. It has been fast-tracked in the House and may be voted on this month. (The bill passed in the House last session, but not in the Senate.) It could present challenges to many Republican voters.
The bill is intended to solve a problem that does not exist – preventing noncitizens from voting. This is already against the law, and the number of instances is extremely small. Research by the Brennen Center for Justice in 2017 looked at 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 election, and reported that of 23.5 million votes cast, election officials only found about 30 cases of potential noncitizen voting that they referred for prosecution or further investigation.
Under the SAVE Act, registering to vote would require proof of citizenship, usually either an official birth certificate or a passport. There are concerns that many people would struggle to procure the necessary documentation.
So who would be more likely to be prevented from registering under the SAVE Act?
Hm. Let’s look at who has passports. 56% of Americans have them. The three community types with the highest percentage having passports: big cities, exurbs, and urban suburbs. Hispanic centers also have relatively high numbers with passports at 53%. Which communities have the lowest? Oh, dear. Yes, fewer than 40% in the African American South — there would definitely be a strong need for support in helping those folks get the right documentation. But guess what other population is under-passported? Among Evangelicals, only 38% are passport holders.
Let’s look at age groups. Oh, young people (18-29 year-olds) are most likely to have passports, while middle-aged people (45-64 y-o) are the least likely. How about education? The higher the education level, the more passport holders – from 71% with post-graduate degrees, down to 24% with high school degree or less.
One of the greatest concerns involves women who changed their names when they married. If their legal name no longer matches that on their birth certificate, they may not be able to register. Which women are least likely to change their names upon marriage? Younger women, women with postgraduate degrees, and Democratic women! Who might be most impacted? 90% of conservative Republic women change their names. By race, more white women than Black and Hispanic woman have changed their names.
Nothing about these statistics implies that highly educated people never vote Republican. Young persons have been known to vote Republican, too. And 10% of conservative women either kept their names, or hyphenated. Nevertheless, it looks like the greatest hardships of the SAVE Act could well fall upon traditional Republican voters.
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