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SAVE AMERICA FROM POLL TAXES

On February 11th, the SAVE America Act (H.R. 7296) passed the house and the GOP is pushing for movement in the senate in light of upcoming midterms.


This requires a voter to have a REAL ID, even though REAL ID’s do not prove citizenship and can be issued to non-citizens. Student ID’s - even those issued by state universities - would not count, nor would many tribal ID’s.


The revised bill requires voters to provide a passport or a birth certificate to register to vote and to cast their ballot. This eliminates universal mail-in voting, making it difficult for many disabled and elderly people to vote. 

“People don’t want to see noncitizens voting in our elections… It’s just asking to be who you say that you are. Everyone should want it”, Nick Langworthy argues.

Rep. Claudia Tenney also voted “Yes” on the SAVE America Act.


Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act in 1996. This law made it a federal crime for non-citizens to vote and to date, there has been no evidence that noncitizens are attempting to vote.


According to Bipartisanpolicy.org, registration and voting attempts by noncitizens are routinely investigated and prosecuted by the appropriate authorities, and there is no evidence that these attempts have ever been significant enough to impact any election. The Trump Administration itself has indicated that only American citizens vote, and the exceptions are extremely rare.


The Brennan Center for Justice’s research shows that more than 21 million Americans lack ready access to a passport or birth certificate and acceptable ID. About half of all Americans do not even have a passport.



The bill would not only require proof of citizenship, but proof of residence. Birth certificates do not contain married names, so all married women, Native Americans, and anyone who has moved and hasn't updated their ID will have to pay $165 for a passport, or $130 for a renewal if needed.


For some context, poll taxes were a primary tool used to disenfranchise minority voters in the Jim Crow south. Congress passed the 24th amendment in 1962, outlawing poll taxes in federal elections to eliminate barriers to voting. In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections that poll taxes were unconstitutional.


Put plainly,

if you must have specific documents that cost money in order to vote,

that is a poll tax. 


So what does this all mean, exactly? It means:


Nick Langworthy and republicans in congress are wasting our tax dollars arguing about problems that do not exist, while enacting unconstitutional poll taxes and purging eligible voters from the polls. 


Nick Langworthy wants to make sure that your college student, your elderly mother, and your immunocompromised neighbor doesn’t get a vote. If you moved in the last year and haven’t updated your documents, have a tribal ID, got married, or don’t have the resources to obtain a passport, you will probably be affected by this bill if it passes the senate. 



We deserve better. We have a right to free and fair elections.



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