By Lewellyne Blanchard, LWV Utica Rome Leadership Team
I would like to bring your attention to a disturbing piece of legislation that is now under consideration in the US Senate. The following is in response to the House vote on the SAVE America Act. The League of Women Voters of the United States issued the following statement:
“The House passage of the SAVE America Act is a direct attack on the freedom to vote. Let’s be clear: the SAVE America Act, alongside the SAVE Act, Make Elections Great Again Act, and similar proposals, is part of a coordinated effort to make voting harder for eligible Americans. These bills are not about election security. They are about restricting access to the ballot and deciding who gets to participate in our democracy. “
- The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in 2025 and would require citizenship documentation to register to vote, and, more recently
- The SAVE America Act and the Make Elections Great Again Act, which have even stricter components than the SAVE Act, like requirements for voters to present proof of citizenship both at registration and the polls, and for absentee ballots to be received by election day.
The rationale behind these acts is that there is massive voter fraud in the US. However, even government sources report that after reviewing the poll results there were only 39 votes that could not be counted and those were mainly due to voter mistakes – not intentional fraud! These bills are addressing an imagined problem. If enacted, the impact of these anti-voter bills would be massive. Millions of eligible voters could be blocked from casting a ballot under the SAVE America Act’s restrictive documentary proof of citizenship requirements. This includes voters who are already properly registered and previously provided proof of citizenship but could still be turned away at the polls if they do not bring a passport or other qualifying document with them on Election Day. It will be especially burdensome to married women, adoptees, and people who have survived any disaster as the required documentation may be difficult to retrieve. Seniors, rural communities, native Americans and persons with disabilities would also find it harder as one of the requirements is that you must register in person .
“The freedom to vote is fundamental and nonnegotiable. For more than a century, the League of Women Voters has fought to expand voter access, not restrict it.” The Utica Rome League urges all citizens to contact their representatives and ask them to reject the SAVE Act, the SAVE America Act, the MEGA Act and any legislation that makes it harder for people to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
