1. You'd Need Special Documents Just to Register to Vote. To register — or even re-register — you'd need to show proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate. Here's the problem:
• More than 21 million Americans don't have access to these kinds of documents
• 69 million women and 4 million men have a birth certificate that doesn't match their current legal name — think anyone who changed their name after marriage
• Half of all Americans don't have a passport
• Michigan's standard REAL ID does not show your place of birth, so it wouldn't qualify
• Only Michigan's Enhanced ID confirms citizenship — which most Michiganders don't have
• A Tribal ID also doesn't show place of birth, so it wouldn't count either
• Even a military ID alone isn't enough — service members would also need to bring their full military record of service showing U.S. birth, every single time they re-register
2. No More Registering Online or by Mail
You'd have to show up in person at an election’s office during business hours. If you work during the day, live far from an office, or have a disability that prevents you from driving — it will become even more challenging to register or update your registration information.
There will no long be voter register available at local voter drives, on college or high school campuses, at churches or anywhere else in your community
3. Stricter ID at the Polls
The SAVE America Act goes beyond registration. When you show up to vote, you'd need to show one of a very narrow list of approved government-issued photo IDs. Many common forms of ID would no longer be accepted, including:
• Student IDs – even those issued by State universities
• Medicare or Medicaid cards
4. Absentee/Mail Voting Gets Much Harder
You'd need to include a copy of an approved photo ID both when requesting your absentee ballot and when submitting it. That means putting personal identifying information — inside an envelope — alongside your ballot.
The amendments to the SAVE America Act that is being pushed hard by this administration prohibits universal mail-in voting. Currently eight states and Washington DC, have a long-standing method of voting by mail in every election, would now have to submit an absentee voter application in order to receive their ballot. Each and every time. Those who would be eligible to apply for absentee ballot would be limited to a select few.
As a side note, there is also a push for anti-transgender provisions, that have nothing to do with voting, voter ID requirements and mail-in ballot restrictions that would have to be included before the White House would sign this legislation.
5. Your Voter Information Could Be Handed Over to the Federal Government
The SAVE America Act would require states to turn over their complete, unredacted voter rolls — including driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — to the Department of Homeland Security.
• The DHS system was originally built to verify eligibility for public benefits, not for determining who can vote
• 12 states have already turned over their information and were told by DHS to purge voters from their rolls — many of whom turned out to be perfectly eligible citizens.
• There are zero restrictions on what the federal government can do with your data once DHS has it, or who they can share your information with.
• The Department of Justice has already sued 24 jurisdictions, including Michigan, for refusing to hand over these voting records
• Fortunately, Courts in California, Oregon, and Michigan have already rejected the DOJ's claims of their right to this information.
Voters who live in those jurisdictions that refuse to hand over their voter files will have to appear with their citizenship documents when they vote. Let me repeat that again. Voters who live in those jurisdictions that refuse to hand over their voter files will have to appear with their citizenship documents when they vote.
6. Voter Purges Based on Flawed Data
States would be mandated to purges voter rolls every 30-days using data that has already proven to be unreliable. This is exactly what happened in Kansas after they had passed legislation mirroring the SAVE Act, where 30,000 voters showed up to the polls only to find out they had been removed, after years of voting without any issue. Kansas has since overturned this unpopular legislation.
The SAVE America Act would also end the 90-day “hands-of” period before an Election Day, where election officials are unable to remove voter from the roles.
7. Election Workers Could Go to Prison
Under this bill, election workers could face up to 5 years in prison for helping someone register who many not have the correct documentation — even if that person turns out to be a citizen. This would have a chilling effect on the people who run our elections, many of whom are already facing burnout and harassment.