What to know
- THE Electoral legislation of the centerpiece Republicans of the Congress would force voters to prove their citizenship during registration, which raises concerns between state officials on the way in which it would be implemented and which would pay it.
- Republicans in Congress said the current process to record voters is swarming This has allowed people who are not American citizens to vote in the previous elections and rely on a system in which voters sign an oath that they are citizens.
- Before the 2024 elections, Trump pushed the claims without proof that these people could vote in number large enough for Influence the result. In fact, vote by non-citizens is rare And can lead to crime accusations and expulsion.
- The voting rights groups have said that married women who have changed their names may find it difficult to register under the Save Act because their birth certificate lists their young girl’s name.
THE Electoral legislation of the centerpiece Republicans of the Congress would force voters to prove their citizenship during registration, which raises concerns between state officials on the way in which it would be implemented and which would pay it.
In recent interviews, the secretaries of state of the two parties declared that they were wary of federal legislators creating electoral rules and new expensive procedures that would accompany them, in particular the collection and storage of sensitive documents. They also criticized a provision that would allow civil or criminal sanctions against any electoral official who records someone without proof of citizenship.
The Secretary of State of Maine Shenna Bello said that there was no federal database that states can use to confirm a person’s citizenship status. Elections managers described the databases maintained by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security as unreliable.
“Reasonable people may agree that only citizens should vote during our elections,” said Democrat. “If they want us to prove citizenship, they must build the infrastructure for this to happen.”
The republicans of the house are ready to act quickly
With Undering President Donald TrumpThe House Republicans should move quickly to advance the legislation, known as Safeguard American voting eligibility. Proof of citizenship obligation has been included in a set of priority bills which can bypass the committee and head directly to a ground vote. This could happen this week, although the prospects of the bill in the Senate are uncertain in the midst of a probable democratic opposition.
State elections officials have declared that they generally support the steps to ensure that only American citizens vote, a problem which generally implies A small fraction of voting bulletins And is more often an individual error rather than an intentional and coordinated attempt to reverse an election. Debates are largely focused on the best way to do this, that the responsibility is the responsibility of the voter or if the federal government should do better work to provide states with reliable data to verify citizenship status.
“Whenever there is federal legislation, I have concerns, especially when the federals talk about things that the states generally do on an annual daily basis,” said Kansas Schwab’s Secretary of State, a republican. “Just because you think it will work in your condition that it will work in everyone’s condition.”
Republicans in Congress said the current process to record voters is swarming This has allowed people who are not American citizens to vote in the previous elections and rely on a system in which voters sign an oath that they are citizens.
Before the 2024 elections, Trump pushed the claims without proof that these people could vote in number large enough for Influence the result. In fact, vote by non-citizens is rare And can lead to crime accusations and expulsion.
Since his victory in November, Trump has continued to put pressure on changes in the way the elections are organized, in particular requiring proof of citizenship.
No money included and the threat of prosecution
Lieutenant-Governor of UTAH, Deidre Henderson, a republican who oversees the elections in his state, said that she was concerned about federal surpassing and the legislation without states that should make it work.
“He should certainly not be in the process of throwing electoral or secretaries of state or county entrepreneurs in prison for accidentally recorded a non-citizen to vote when we have no adequate tools to even check citizenship,” she said.
Another concern is funding. The bill does not include credits, leaving the states to cover the costs of its implementation. Federal money for elections has long been a point of contention for some electoral officials.
“If you speak of the vast majority of elections officials, they will tell you that federal investment in our elections is cruelly necessary, especially if the people of the Congress will talk about things like the Save Act, which will not increase the costs of election management and increase federal surveillance and participation in our elections,” Democrat.
Concerns about voters with the right documents
The voting rights groups have said that married women who have changed their names may find it difficult to register under the Save Act because their birth certificate lists their young girl’s name.
These groups have also criticized the requirement of the bill according to which people provide documents in person, claiming that this could be a challenge for people in the rural regions of the country where to visit an electoral office could require a long road and take leave of work.
As part of the current registration system, people looking to register are asked to provide either a state driving license number, or the last four figures for their social security number and are responsible for signing a sworn oath that they are an American citizen. Some states require a complete social security number.
Republicans say that states can add people to the electoral lists even if they do not provide this information and that some non-citizens can receive social security numbers and driving licenses. The legislation describes the documents which could prove citizenship, including a driving license in accordance with the identification, a passport or a birth certificate.
It also allows states to establish a way for voters to provide other support documents. Only around 50% of Americans have a passport and the adoption of the real identification was slow. In January 2024, around 56% of driving licenses and identifiers in the United States were real in accordance with ID, according to data collected by DHS.
State citizenship requirements have mixed results
Currently, eight states have laws requiring proof of citizenship for voters while legislators of 17 states have introduced legislation this year to add this requirement, according to the National Conference of States Legislatures.
The experiences have been mixed. In KansasWhen proof of citizenship obligation was in force for three years, the own state expert estimated that almost every 30,000 people who were prevented from registering during this period were American citizens eligible to vote.
The Secretary of State of Georgia Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said that his condition had succeeded in establishing a system with the state vehicle agency of the State to verify citizenship. He and 20 other republican secretaries of state sent a letter last week asking the Ministry of Internal Security to improve its database and eliminate the costs of use.
The Secretary of State of Arizona, Adrian Fontes, a democrat, described federal data as “completely unreliable” and underlined a problem in his state, which has for years to implement proof of citizenship at the level of the state. A recent state audit has revealed cases in which US passports may not prove citizenship because American nationals – those born in the American territories – are eligible for passports but are not eligible to vote in the American elections.
“We have so many problems to solve and such a misunderstanding of our own laws that I think that a massive change like this is simply problematic,” said Fontes. “I do not think that the congress has taken the time to ask the people who do this work if what they offer is achievable in the first place. And it is dangerous, especially when you criminalize some of these activities. »»
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