Voting Rights are Under Attack: Take Action

Right now, there is a coordinated effort in Washington, DC to pass some of the most restrictive voting laws in recent history. The effort is fueled by Donald Trump’s overwhelmingly disproved claims that he won the 2020 election, and now a bill in Congress that could disenfranchise tens of millions of eligible voters across the country just needs a vote from the U.S. Senate to become law. 

They are calling the legislation the  “SAVE Act,” but don’t let the name fool you. The bill would make voting and registering to vote more difficult, requiring eligible voters to provide a passport or birth certificate just to participate in our democracy. 

To be clear: Under current law, it is illegal for non-citizens to vote.

The cause for all of this is based on a lie, and the burden would fall on eligible voters who will have to jump through more hoops just to cast their votes and participate in our democracy.

Efforts to restrict voting are not just happening in Washington. Here in Michigan, House Bill 4765 would make it harder for eligible voters to cast their ballots by imposing similar burdensome proof-of-citizenship requirements. 

Requirements to prove U.S. citizenship to vote are already in place in Michigan and across the country. If enacted, the SAVE Act and Michigan House Bill 4765 could have far-reaching impacts:

• Disenfranchisement of voters without passports: Half of American citizens – 146 million people – do not have a passport. In Michigan alone, approximately 5.8 million eligible voters do not have a valid passport. 
• Challenges for married women and others who have changed their names: Nearly 69 million American women – including more than 2.2 million women in Michigan – do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name. 
• New financial burdens: A certified Michigan birth certificate costs $40, and a U.S. passport costs between $135 and $200 – creating a pay-to-vote barrier for many families. 
• Severe limits on accessible registration methods: These bills would basically end mail-in voter registration, mandating in-person registration and undermining convenient options for voters. 
• Severe limits on voting by mail: The bill would upend vote-by-mail systems and make it harder for eligible voters to cast their ballots.
• Risk of wrongful voter purges: Burdensome list maintenance requirements could lead to eligible voters being improperly removed from voter rolls.
• New burdens on election officials: These bills would impose sweeping administrative mandates, expose election officials to criminal liability, and provide no additional funding to implement these changes.
• Threats to voter privacy: Expanded data-sharing requirements would increase the risk that voters’ sensitive personal information could be compromised.

Votes in Washington and Lansing are expected soon, and we must urgently take action to stop these anti-democracy efforts. 

Send a message to your lawmakers in D.C. and Lansing urging them to protect our freedom to vote →