Padilla, Schumer, Murray, Reed: “We Will Reject” Republican Attempts to Include Anti-Voter Legislation in Defense, Funding Bills

Democratic Senators slam SAVE Act: "The burden of documentary proof required by this bill shows that its true impact is massive voter suppression."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, put Republican Senate leadership on notice that they "will use all procedural means to oppose" attempts to pass anti-voter legislation, including the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, in any must-pass bills moving through the Senate.

As the Senate moves forward on considering defense authorization and government funding legislation this month, Trump allies, including Tea Party Patriots Action, are pressuring the Administration to use these bills to pass voter suppression legislation like the SAVE Act. The letter also comes after President Trump threatened to issue an unconstitutional executive order to ban all mail-in voting and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that the White House is considering a legislative strategy to enact the ban.

If passed, the SAVE Act would lead to the potential disenfranchisement of millions of eligible American citizens by creating overly burdensome documentation requirements, restricting access to the ballot box for new voters, married women, rural voters, servicemembers, communities of color, voters at new addresses, and the tens of millions of Americans who register to vote online or by mail. The Senators warned Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) that the SAVE Act would amount to "massive voter suppression," emphasizing that 140 million Americans do not have a passport, over 21 million American citizens cannot easily access proof of citizenship documents, and tens of millions of married women have legal names that differ from their birth certificates.

"The SAVE Act uses President Trump's election conspiracy theories to impose new federal mandates on states that would create major barriers to voter registration for millions of eligible American voters," wrote the Senators. "It is wrong, un-American, and we will use all tools at our disposal to oppose efforts to ram it through the Senate contained in unrelated legislation."

"Taken together, the SAVE Act's federal mandates would burden voters of all political parties and walks of life but disproportionately harm large swaths of historically marginalized communities who already face obstacles in accessing the ballot box, including rural voters, Native voters, voters of color, and women," continued the Senators. "While the cost of this bill would be great, the benefits would be nonexistent. Numerous reviews have found extremely low rates of noncitizen voting."

Despite the Trump Administration's unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud by noncitizens, multiple reviews, including an analysis of the Heritage Foundation's database, have found that noncitizen voting is extremely rare. Moreover, the SAVE Act would impose excessive criminal penalties on election officials who accidentally provide noncitizens with voter registration paperwork, including fines and up to five years in prison. Voting by noncitizens is already a federal crime, and voters in every state must confirm their citizenship under penalty of perjury during registration.

"We want to be very clear that we will object to any attempt to add the SAVE Act or other anti-voter legislation to any must-pass moving bills in the Senate and will use all procedural means to oppose any efforts to do so," concluded the Senators.

Senator Padilla has led the charge opposing President Trump and Republicans' reckless attempts to restrict the right to vote. In May, Padilla stopped Senator Mike Lee's (R-Utah) attempt to pass the anti-voter SAVE Act through the Senate by unanimous consent. Earlier this year, he convened a Rules Committee Democrats spotlight forum focused on Congressional Republicans' SAVE Act and Trump's illegal anti-voter executive order. As President Trump marked 100 disastrous days in office, Padilla led his Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor to speak out against the SAVE Act and the Trump Administration's attacks on election integrity. In April, he warned Secretaries of State, Lieutenant Governors, and Chief Election Officials across the country of the devastating potential impacts of the SAVE Act, concerns that have been echoed by top election officials across the country. Padilla also led a letter sounding the alarm on the devastating impacts on voting rights in Native American communities of the SAVE Act and Trump's executive order. In July, Padilla convened a Rules and Judiciary Committee Democrats spotlight forum focused on racial gerrymandering and voter suppression.

Last month, Padilla blasted President Trump's attacks on mail-in voting and America's election systems.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Leader Thune:

We write to make clear our strong opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (H.R. 22/S. 128) and the President's ongoing attacks on our elections and to make clear that we will reject any attempts to attach this or any other highly controversial, anti-voter legislation to any pending must-pass bills.

The SAVE Act uses President Trump's election conspiracy theories to impose new federal mandates on states that would create major barriers to voter registration for millions of eligible American voters. It is wrong, un-American, and we will use all tools at our disposal to oppose efforts to ram it through the Senate contained in unrelated legislation.

The SAVE Act purports to stop noncitizen voting, which is already exceedingly rare and a federal crime, with a new federal mandate that anyone registering to vote must provide specific documentary proof of citizenship. In reality, if the SAVE Act were to become law, millions of Americans would face major obstacles to vote because they either lack the required documents to prove citizenship or because they relied on ways to register that the bill would upend-including online voter registration, registration by mail, voter registration drives, or automatic voter registration. This goes far beyond "voter ID," as a large majority of Americans live in states where even their driver's license does not meet the requirements of the SAVE Act.

The burden of documentary proof required by this bill shows that its true impact is massive voter suppression. Over 140 million Americans do not have a passport, and over 21 million American citizens cannot easily access proof of citizenship documents. This anti-voter bill would prevent people who have changed their legal names from using their birth certificates, impacting tens of millions of married women. More than 12 percent of Americans also move every year and would be forced to access these documents to re-register at their new address. Making matters worse, its sweeping changes to state voter registration would become effective upon enactment, sowing chaos in upcoming elections for state administrators who are already overworked and underresourced, following years of inconsistent federal funding.

Taken together, the SAVE Act's federal mandates would burden voters of all political parties and walks of life but disproportionately harm large swaths of historically marginalized communities who already face obstacles in accessing the ballot box, including rural voters, Native voters, voters of color, and women. While the cost of this bill would be great, the benefits would be nonexistent. Numerous reviews have found extremely low rates of noncitizen voting. For example, a 2017 Brennan Center analysis of 42 jurisdictions which tabulated 23.5 million votes in the 2016 election found that noncitizens were referred for investigation in just 30 cases-or 0.0001 percent of votes. Even the conservative Heritage Foundation's database confirms that any meaningful amount of noncitizen voting does not exist.

If enacted, this bill would also impose severe criminal penalties against election officials, including fines and up to five years in prison, if they inadvertently provide a noncitizen with the paperwork to register to vote. Voters in every state are already required to affirm or verify their citizenship status under penalty of perjury when registering and voting in a federal election as a noncitizen is a federal crime.

In recent weeks, the President has threatened to issue additional unconstitutional executive orders to interfere in elections, including one that would ban vote by mail, despite casting his own ballot by mail in the 2024 election, its widespread adoption in many states, and the Republican party's encouragement of this popular voting method. Alternatively, White House staff have indicated that the administration may pursue legislation rather than another blatantly unconstitutional executive order.

As a result, we want to be very clear that we will object to any attempt to add the SAVE Act or other anti-voter legislation to any must-pass moving bills in the Senate and will use all procedural means to oppose any efforts to do so.

Sincerely,

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