Democrats in Congress continue to resist the SAVE America Act by claiming that it seeks a return to the “Jim Crow era” and “discriminates” against women, but can they back up their claims?
Democrats in the House and Senate have repeatedly claimed the legislation is discriminatory, though many of the bill’s provisions, which include requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and voter ID, poll overwhelmingly positively with Americans.
The SAVE America Act has already passed the House, but the Senate is considering the bill this week.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, claimed in an online video statement that married women would be banned from registering to vote if they change their name.
“If you’re a woman who got married, changed your last name, and if your last name doesn’t match the last name on your birth certificate, you’re not going to be able to register to vote,” the Hawaii senator claimed. “That I call stealing our votes.”
Hirono’s remarks mirror those made by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during a Fox News appearance in February.
“If you’re a woman who got married and changed your last name, you won’t be able to show ID, and you’ll be discriminated against,” Schumer claimed. “If you can’t find a birth certificate or a proper ID, you’ll be discriminated against.”
“This is vicious and nasty,” Schumer claimed.
Apparently, it’s not just women that Republicans are attempting to ban from the voting booth—it’s black Americans, too.
Schumer said that what proponents of the bill are “trying to do here is the same thing that was done in the South for decades: to prevent people of color from voting.”
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., claim the SAVE America Act creates “more bureaucracy between women and the ballot box,” and that women “could be forced to drive five hours round-trip just to vote.”
When asked by The Daily Signal if he would explain how the bill actually disenfranchises women and people of color, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., suggested those explanations will be forthcoming and said, “We will litigate the SAVE America Act on the House floor.”
The SAVE America Act passed in February but will return to the House if the Senate passes the legislation with alterations.
Republicans, however, suggest Democrats are not substantiating their claims about discrimination because those claims are falsehoods.
“Democrats want to keep spreading lies about the SAVE America Act, claiming it’s ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ and ‘voter suppression,’” Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., tells The Daily Signal. “But let’s be clear about what they’re really doing—covering up for illegal aliens to continue voting in our elections. The American people should see their agenda for what it really is: a desperate attempt to hold onto power and ruin America’s future.”
In a statement shared with The Daily Signal, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said its Democrats, not Republicans, looking to disenfranchise voters.
“Do you know what actually disenfranchises voters? When noncitizens participate in our federal elections and counteract the votes of registered American voters,” Johnson said. “That’s what we have to stop.”
Other House republicans, such as Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., have previously told The Daily Signal that “anyone who opposes voter ID to safeguard the integrity of our elections is anti-American.”
“Voter ID is common sense and is supported by over 80% of the American public, including a majority of Democratic voters,” Barr added. “If you need an ID to board a plane, open a bank account, or even to buy certain types of cold medicine, you should need an ID to vote in federal elections.”
Schumer, Fernandez, and Clark did not respond to The Daily Signal’s multiple phone and email requests for comment.