Vermont’s Attorney General has joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general to oppose a proposed federal law, saying it would reverse progress enhancing voter registration and disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act includes requirements that all voters provide documentary proof of citizenship before registering to vote. It mandates in-person presentation of citizenship documents. Married people who change their name would have to submit additional proof of identity before they can vote.
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark calls the bill “the largest attack on voter eligibility since the Jim Crow laws.” The letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, emphasizes that SAVE Act would impose substantial burdens on eligible voters, especially those in poor and minority communities.
In a statement last week, the Vermont Secretary of State cited data showing more than 21 million voting-age American citizens do not have access to their proof of citizenship.
AG’s from New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are among those signing the letter.
