by Akemi Tamanaha, associate editor

Civil rights organizations gathered outside the United Methodist Building in Washington D.C. on Monday to speak out against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The bill requires voters to provide “proof-of-citizenship,” like a birth certificate or a valid U.S. passport, when registering or re-registering to vote.

The organizations say the bill, if passed into law, would disenfranchise millions of voters in the United States by creating barriers to the registration process. Many U.S. citizens, they say, might not have access to the necessary documentation.

Monday’s press conference was hosted by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD). Representatives from 10 different civil rights organizations spoke out against the bill. Congressman Joe Morelle (NY-25) also joined.

John C. Yang, the President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, criticized the SAVE Act and its supporters in the legislature for “trying to vilify immigrants” by falsely claiming they are committing voter fraud.

The reality is, we’ve seen this playbook before. We’ve seen it many times,” Yang said. “… And when our communities organize, when our communities show up, when our communities start to grow and accept power, we see them try to silence us. And we will not have that again.”

Yang added that questioning citizenship status is a play Asian American voters have seen before, citing similar legislation that has passed in Arizona and Kansas. The SAVE Act could impact nearly 50% of  Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders who are naturalized U.S. citizens.

“What that means is that we don’t have a birth certificate from the United States, but what that still means is that we are just as much American as everyone else,” Yang said.

Many speakers also pointed out that those who have legally changed their names, like married people or members of the trans community, do not have birth certificates that match their current names on another photo

Ilana Beller-Kernish, an organizing member at Public Citizen, changed her last name when she got married. At the press conference, she explained that the name on her birth certificate does not match her current legal name. If she needed to re-register to vote, she would have to apply for a passport, a process that could cost her $165 and take months to complete.

“I am currently doing all of the things that conservatives say they so badly want women to do in this country, get married, have children, work a full time job, and because of that, Congress wants to force me to pay $165 and spend months jumping through hoops in order to participate in a democracy? No, I will not accept that,” Beller-Kernish said.

Like Beller-Kernish, several other speakers also pointed out that a complicated registration process would be enough to prevent people from trying to register. The SAVE Act would require millions of voters to secure upgraded documentation. It would also eliminate online voter registration in most states, a streamlined process that has helped encourage Americans to register throughout the years.

Civil rights leaders at the press conference urged Americans to call their Congressional representatives and ask them to reject the SAVE Act.

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