SAVE Act and Democratic Voter Registration Strategies
The SAVE Act would require "documentary proof of United States citizenship" to register to vote in federal elections. The video's title suggests it makes the argument that this legislation would disrupt Democratic voter registration drives and motivate opposition from Democratic establishment figures ("the Swamp"). The core claim appears to be that stricter voting requirements would prevent Democrats from registering voters through their traditional get-out-the-vote mechanisms.
Key Points
- The SAVE America Act requires voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID at the time of voting.
- In 2022, more than seven million Americans registered to vote by mail, and almost 11 million Americans registered to vote online, but these bills would severely threaten mail registration and require online registration systems to be overhauled.
- Most Democrats and voting rights groups have warned the legislation could disenfranchise millions of voters, as around 21 million Americans do not have documents proving their citizenship readily available.
- A February Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found that 71% of the registered voters surveyed said that they supported the SAVE America Act, including 91% of Republicans, 69% of independents and 50% of Democrats.
- In Kansas, noncitizen registration was exceedingly rare at 0.002% of registered voters before a similar law, but the documentary proof requirement prevented roughly 31,000 eligible citizens, or 12% of all applicants, from registering to vote.