President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Republicans are not telling Americans the entire truth about the “Save America Act’ that they claim will stop illegal voting (which is very rare), notes the BBC:
The US House of Representatives this week passed legislation that would require voters to provide proof-of-citizenship as the midterm elections approach.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, would require a people to present a valid US passport or birth certificate when registering to vote.
The proposal has raised concerns among some groups, including married individuals who have changed their names and may not have matching documents.
The Brennan Center for Justice notes millions of US citizens do not have the requirements of the “Save America Act”:
Our research indicates that more than 9 percent of American citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, don’t have proof of citizenship readily available. There are myriad reasons for this — the documents might be in the home of another family member or in a safety deposit box. And at least 3.8 million don’t have these documents at all, often because they were lost, destroyed, or stolen.
We also uncovered evidence of racial disparities in these numbers: while just over 8 percent of self-identified white American citizens don’t have citizenship documents readily available, that number is nearly 11 percent among Americans of color.
The Center for American Progress reports that about 69 million women would be shut out from voting:
…more than 140 million American citizens do not possess a passport and as many as 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.
(Sources: BBC, Brennan Center for Justice, Center for American Progress)