Today, activists from Common Cause, Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD), and more than a dozen other organizations will deliver petitions to congressional district offices from Maine to Nevada urging their U.S. Representatives to vote against the anti-voter SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act – H.R. 22). The bill is expected to be brought to the full House for a vote next week. The petition emphasizes the legislation would “scare newly naturalized citizens out of voting and make it harder for millions of eligible voters to cast a ballot – especially seniors, women, students, veterans, and rural voters.”

Under the proposed legislation, every American would have to provide in-person proof of citizenship not only to register to vote but even to update their voter registration with a new address when moving across the street or across town. The SAVE Act would make it impossible for Americans to register to vote by mail, put an end to voter registration drives, and add hurdles for the 42 states that utilize online voter registration. Every change of address or political party would have to be done in person, causing voters to potentially spend many hours driving to their election office, waiting in long lines, and then driving back home just to register to vote.

The petition warns that the new requirements in the SAVE Act “could strip millions of eligible Americans of our right to vote – especially the 146 million Americans without passports и 69 million American women whose birth certificates don’t match their married names.” When Kansas imposed similar requirements, the state blocked voter registrations of more than 31,000 U.S. citizens who were otherwise eligible to vote.

“We are taking the fight right to congressional district offices to protect the voting rights of millions of Americans who would be harmed by this anti-voter legislation,” said Вирджиния Касе Соломон, президент и генеральный директор Common Cause. “If the SAVE Act becomes law, married women, rural voters, and every American will have a harder time voting. The real motive behind the bill is to keep millions of Americans from being able to make their voices heard at the ballot box.”

“Our democracy works best when all of us, regardless of color, party, income, or zip code, have an equal say in the decisions that shape our future” said Christine Wood, Co-Director, Declaration for American Democracy. “But right now, a faction of extremist politicians is lying about our elections in an attempt to trick us into making it harder for millions of eligible Americans to cast their votes. Congress must reject this dangerous voter suppression bill and instead protect and strengthen our elections and access to the ballot box.”

Petitions are being delivered today to district offices of Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), Rep. John Mannion (D-NY), Rep. Don Davis (D-NC), Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY), Rep. Josh Riley (D-NY), Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH). More petition deliveries to district offices will follow around the country before the floor vote.

Each House District Office received the petition signatures of their constituents from among the hundreds of thousands of signatures gathered by Common Cause, Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD), Public Citizen, Workers Circle, The League of Conservation Voters, The League of Women Voters, Indivisible, Move On, Represent Us, People For the American Way (PFAW), Stand Up America, Generation Vote and DemCast.

This bill provides no additional funding for already underfunded and overworked elections officials.

To read the petition, кликните сюда.