The controversial Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act was just passed by the House of Representatives and is headed to the Senate.
But what is so controversial about the SAVE Act?
Here are excerpts from the from the bill summary:
- “This bill requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.”
- “Each state must take affirmative steps on an ongoing basis to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote.”
- “Additionally, states must remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters.”
Border Hawk cannot endorse legislation, but we can explore the issues.
There are two important aspects to Voter ID: what one must do in order to register to vote and what a voter must present when he/she votes.
An argument against this sort of requirement is that it would disenfranchise minority voters, but identification is required for many activities in our society.
When I travel by plane, I have to produce ID.
When I cash a check, I have to produce ID.
When registering to vote, a natural born citizen can prove citizenship with a birth certificate. A naturalized citizen can prove citizenship with a document of naturalization.
My wife is a naturalized citizen and she had no problem registering to vote.
The “minorities shouldn’t be required to have ID” trope is an old chestnut.
But recently I heard a new argument against requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote: It allegedly disenfranchises married women.
Really?
Yes, that’s the claim. Since most married women assume their husband’s surname, they might have trouble proving they are eligible to vote.
Who thought up this one?
Do married women have problems obtaining other paperwork? We’ve had the same surname system since colonial times. Why have they just now brought this up?
Frankly, it sounds like another pretext for not having voter ID requirements.
What is the voter ID situation in various states?
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) provides some useful information on the topic and their website offers a map so you can see how your state compares to others.
“Thirty-six states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls,” NCSL states.
“Fourteen states and Washington, D.C. do not require any documentation to vote at the polls.”
That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.
Mexico, where I resided for many years, has a very good voter registration system.
Mexico has many problems, but they did solve this one by issuing a national voter card supplied by the government.
I have witnessed voting in Mexico firsthand. Of course, I didn’t participate as I am not a Mexican citizen, but I’ve observed it, and it looks good.
Here’s what I have written about Mexico’s system elsewhere:
“In Mexico, voters must provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Each Mexican voter is provided with a government-supplied voter ID card, which includes the voter’s photograph, fingerprints, and a holographic image. The voter must produce this card when showing up to vote.”
Here are some sample Mexican voter cards from the Instituto Nacional Electoral:
But it’s not just the voter card that makes the system effective.
The polling station workers have a book with a photograph of every single voter in the precinct. They can check voter IDs against the photos in the book. After voting, the voter’s thumb is smudged with ink to prevent repeat voting. The ink wears off after a few days.
I find the Mexican voter registration system impressive and superior to ours. We can learn from Mexico, and it would be beneficial for U.S. states to adopt elements of their voter registration system.
I think it’s safe to say that requiring voters to prove their identity and U.S. citizenship is certainly not too much to ask.
You can find more of Allan Wall’s work at his website and Mexico News Report.
