ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Tuesday, the United States Senate voted to take up the debate on the SAVE Act – legislation being pushed by MAGA Republicans to impose additional and unnecessary barriers to registering to vote and voting.
The proposal, which has passed the Republican-controlled U.S. House, would require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote, including a passport or a birth certificate. Federal law already requires that voters are citizens, and prescribes penalties for noncitizens who attempt to vote. It’s estimated that over 21 million Americans lack ready access to these documents. Roughly half of Americans don’t have a passport, and millions lack access to a paper copy of their birth certificate. Additionally, millions of Americans whose married names are not on their birth certificates or passports would face extra barriers, costs, and steps in the process of registering to vote.
On February 27, a group of Minnesota Republicans sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, urging the US Senate to pass the SAVE Act.
In response, the Co-Chairs of the Minnesota Legislature’s Inclusive Democracy Caucus, Senator Liz Boldon (DFL-Rochester), Representative Cedrick Frazier (DFL-New Hope), and Representative Emma Greenman (DFL-Minneapolis), released the following statement:
“The SAVE Act is part of President Trump’s pattern of election interference – a thinly veiled attempt to disenfranchise millions of Americans. It does nothing to protect our elections. Rather, it undermines our democracy by creating more barriers to voting, and imposes an unconstitutional poll tax that disproportionately would harm women and voters of color. We reject a return to the state-sanctioned Jim Crow era of voter suppression.”
“President Trump is pushing this legislation because he knows that his record and the MAGA agenda – cutting Americans’ social safety nets, sending masked federal agents into our communities, starting more wars, and giving giant tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy – are incredibly unpopular, and they want to suppress American voters from voicing their feedback on that agenda.”
“In Minnesota, we’ll continue to fight for freedom, democracy, and a state where every vote counts and every voice matters.”
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