WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 14: U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks during a news conference after a weekly Republican conference meetingin the U.S. Capitol Building on November 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. During the news conference House Republican leadership spoke to reporters about a range of topics including the upcoming vote on a continuing resolution to fund the government through early 2024. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

BY:Ā Ā Ohio Capital Journal

The so-called SAVE Act would require documents like a passport or birth certificate to register to vote and echoes a Kansas law that disenfranchised more than 30,000 voters

This week the U.S. House approved the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act, which contemplates dramatic changes to the way Americans register to vote and cast their ballots. The measure is a priority for House Speaker Mike Johnson, and he invoked dubious reports of noncitizens on Ohioā€™s voter rolls in aĀ white paperĀ backing the bill.

The proposal demands documentary proof of citizenship to vote, and the list of acceptable documents is narrow. In Ohio, most voters would probably need to present a passport or a birth certificate and photo ID to register.

More than 21 million eligible voters donā€™t have those documents at the ready, according to aĀ recent studyĀ conducted by the University of Maryland Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement.

Realistically,Ā the SAVE ActĀ is likely dead-on-arrival in a Democratically controlled U.S. Senate. President Biden has committed to veto it if it made it to his desk. But critics warn thatā€™s not the point. Instead, they argue the bill could lay the groundwork for spurious allegations of voter fraud following the election this fall.

 

ā€œThis is the first act,ā€ Americaā€™s Voice senior research director Zachary Mueller said during a press conference ahead of the vote. The organization works to advance immigration reform that would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people.

Already, Johnson and other Republicans are framing Democratic opposition as trying to allow noncitizens to vote. And if Republicans lose elections in November, Mueller went on, the SAVE Actā€™s failure offers an antecedent for the GOP to argue ā€œthe reason why we didnā€™t win is because immigrants looted the ballot box and stole this election with the support of Democratic elites. And that lie is extremely, extremely dangerous.ā€

Ohio connections

To drum up support, Speaker Johnsonā€™s office sent around a white paper insisting there is ā€œirrefutable evidenceā€ of noncitizens illegally registering and voting in U.S. elections. Among his examples was Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRoseā€™s recent report of 137 suspected noncitizens on Ohioā€™s voter rolls.

Although itā€™s possible some of those individuals have committed fraud, LaRose hasnā€™t proven it. And in an interview with conservative talk radio host Bob Frantz, he acknowledged those registrations could be ā€œthe result of an honest mistake.ā€

Under federal law, the BMV and other state agencies have to offer people seeking services voter registration forms. Thatā€™s part of the so-called Motor Voter law that has been on the books since the mid-1990s. In some cases, ineligible people fill out the forms, and even identify themselves as ineligible, but their registration is processed anyway.

Another potential explanation for those 137 flagged registrations may be for people who were recently naturalized. While a new citizen is an eligible voter as soon as they take the oath, until they visit the BMV, they might still look like a noncitizen in state records.

Of the 500-plus cases LaRose flagged before this latest batch,Ā an Ohio Capital Journal investigationĀ showed just one resulted in charges.

Although Republican officials regularly invoke the threat of noncitizens voting, theyā€™ve yet to produce evidence of any widespread fraud. Brennan Center for Justice voting rights director Sean Morales-Doyle argued thatā€™s because the consequences are severe and thereā€™s no discernible benefit for the fraudulent voter.

ā€œItā€™s a fairly unique crime,ā€ he said, ā€œin which the way you commit the crime is by putting down on paper, in a government record, your information, and the proof that you are committing the crime.ā€

He described it as an ā€œinfinitesimally rare phenomenonā€ for a noncitizen to vote illegally.

ā€œAnd frankly, most of the time it turns out it was an accident,ā€ he said. ā€œItā€™s someone who misunderstood or often was misled about their eligibility, because someone whoā€™s going in fully informed just isnā€™t going to take this kind of risk.ā€

Still, without evidence,Ā Speaker Johnson claimed, ā€œit is highly likely many more noncitizens remain registered to vote in Ohio.ā€

The speaker pointed to Ohioā€™s list maintenance program and argued itā€™s too cumbersome a process for identifying and removing alleged noncitizens.

But Ohioā€™s process for removing active voters reflects requirements laid out in the Motor Voter Act. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme CourtĀ upheld the process. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito described how Ohioā€™s system follows federal requirements ā€œto the letter.ā€

The SAVE Act does nothing to alter those restrictions.

Acceptable documents

Under the SAVE Act, voters would need to establish they are who they claim to be and that theyā€™re a citizen of the country. That might seem simple, but it gets complicated quickly.

A driverā€™s license alone doesnā€™t work, unless it indicates citizenship. A handful of states offer that feature, including for instance, some along the border with Canada. But many states like Ohio do not.

A Social Security number wonā€™t help either. Johnsonā€™s white paper argues asylees, parolees waiting for a court date and people who have overstayed their visa could have gotten one for work authorization or benefits. Notably, there are three different kinds of social security cards, and those groups get restricted versions. Rather than taking steps to wall off those Social Security numbers from voter rolls ā€” or to develop an alternative system for work and benefit access ā€” the SAVE Act eliminates social security numbers as a form of verification altogether.

In terms of singular documents, the bill allows for any ā€œvalid government-issued photo identification card issued by a Federal, State or Tribal government showing that the applicantā€™s place of birth was in the United States.ā€ But in practice, the only option in many states and situations would be a valid passport. That means most voters would have to provide a photo ID and a document related to their birth, adoption or naturalization.

Morales-Doyle argued there would be ā€œdevastatingā€ consequences for voter eligibility if those restrictions were allowed to take effect.

ā€œNine percent of adult American citizens donā€™t have documentary proof of citizenship handy,ā€ he said, referencing the University of Maryland study.

ā€œWhen you think about it, whether you have an up-to-date and accurate, with-your-current-name-on-it passport or birth certificate that you can grab when you go to register to vote, literally (21.3) million adult American citizens donā€™t have that.ā€

Contingency plans

Even if a prospective voter has or can get the necessary documents, they could face further hurdles if their name doesnā€™t match up ā€” say because of marriage or a divorce.

The legislation doesnā€™t explicitly lay out how to account for those discrepancies. Instead, it directs the federal Election Assistance Commission and each state to develop guidance on what additional documentation a citizen needs to provide.

For Americans who simply donā€™t have documentary proof of citizenship, the bill offers a similar catch-all process. The voter would have to bring whatever evidence they have and sign an ā€œattestation under penalty of perjuryā€ that theyā€™re an eligible citizen. The election official would also have to sign an affidavit approving their application and explaining why their documents were sufficient.

Mueller from Americaā€™s Voice dismissed that provision as a ā€œfig leaf,ā€ and Morales-Doyle noted the bill also threatens election workers with fines and jail time if they wind up registering a noncitizen.

Morales-Doyle added one state in particularĀ already tried the same idea. Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach led the charge on legislation requiring voters there to show proof of citizenship to register. The law had its own ā€œalternative route,ā€ Morales Doyle explained, where voters could provide other documents to demonstrate their citizenship.

But in practice it led to more than 30,000 voters having their registration suspended or canceled. A federal judge struck down the law in 2018 and an appeals courtĀ upheld that ruling in 2020. The judges wrote that in 19 years, ā€œat most, 67 noncitizens registered or attempted to register to vote.ā€

More to the point, Morales-Doyle argued, if the measureā€™s backstop amounts to swearing an oath and signing a document, it threatens havoc for election administrators around the country only to recreate the current system where voters affirm their citizenship on a voter registration form.

ā€œIf all it is doing is saying that well, actually, if you donā€™t have documentary proof of citizenship, you can just swear youā€™re a citizen, then itā€™s just leaving us exactly where we stand now anyway,ā€ he said. ā€œWhich goes to show that this is not really a solution of any kind.ā€

Follow OCJ ReporterĀ Nick Evans on Twitter.


Nick Evans
NICK EVANS

Nick Evans has spent the past seven years reporting for NPR member stations in Florida and Ohio. He got his start in Tallahassee, covering issues like redistricting, same sex marriage and medical marijuana. Since arriving in Columbus in 2018, he has covered everything from city council to football. His work on Ohio politics and local policing have been featured numerous times on NPR.

Ohio Capital Journal is part ofĀ States Newsroom, the nationā€™s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

Your comments can change our community

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.