For the last five years, Georgia has been the epicenter for the fight for voting rights, in the news for all the nation to see.
On Jan. 28, we witnessed the seizure of 700 boxes of 2020 election ballots by federal agents, here in Fulton County, led by the deputy FBI director and the director of national intelligence.
But this was just the latest, from Donald Trump’s unlawful request to “find” 11,780 Republican votes after the 2020 election, to passing a sweeping anti-voting law in 2021, which included the “no water while in line” restriction famously parodied on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Now we Georgia voters are facing far worse: The SAVE Act (House Resolution 22), the Trump administration’s pursuit of a mandate that Americans must present documentary proof of citizenship (“DPOC”) in order to vote. The U.S. House of Representatives passed it last April, but the Senate has yet to take up the bill.
Trump wants commission to become a partisan tool
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN/AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN/AJC
When the SAVE Act bill was not enacted by Congress last year, many Americans breathed a sigh of relief, but it is premature to think the battle to restrict voting rights is over.
Trump’s March executive order on “preserving and protecting” elections followed the introduction of the SAVE Act in Congress.
Then, the executive order was followed by a petition from the conservative legal group, America First Legal Foundation, urging the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to change the national mail voter registration form to require DPOC.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
All three of these actions are attempts by the Trump administration to bar American citizens from voting unless they can present DPOC, a term which is limited for most Americans to either a passport or a birth certificate that bears exactly the same name as the name they are currently using.
Even though the SAVE Act bill was not enacted, it will almost certainly come up again this year. In a speech to House Republicans in January, Trump urged lawmakers to pass a national voter ID law, specifically mentioning the SAVE Act, ahead of the 2026 elections.
America First Legal is continuing to pursue its petition with the EAC, urging it to begin rulemaking to add the DPOC requirement to the national voter registration application. Even though the court order preventing implementation of the DPOC requirement by Trump is in effect, the EAC published a Federal Register notice requesting comments on the petition to add documentary proof of citizenship to the federal registration form.
In October, Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, joined 31 colleagues in sending a letter opposing the petition to change the national voter registration form.
The letter asserts that the petition mirrors the executive order and the SAVE Act bill and that it will burden our fundamental right to vote by disenfranchising millions of eligible voters.
In other words, actors for Trump are seeking to turn the EAC — an institution that was created to strengthen election access and integrity — into a partisan tool for voter suppression.
Nearly half of U.S. citizens do not have a passport
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
No matter how it is implemented, the documentation requirement will endanger the voting rights of millions of Americans, including women and military service members.
The nonpartisan League of Women Voters estimates that 69 million American women lack a birth certificate that reflects their current name, because they have married and have done what most have always done, changed their last name to match their husbands’ names.
As for passports, one of the only other means of identification all Americans could access, about 146 million citizens (roughly half the population) do not have one, and obtaining the document is both expensive and time-consuming, effectively acting as a bar against voter registration for many people, particularly low-income individuals.
Military service members, who move frequently, also could face onerous requirements to produce documentation — in many cases their military service IDs would not be sufficient — to re-register to vote. Similar obstacles could confront survivors of natural disasters who have lost important documents.
The requirement that DPOC be presented in person at the voter’s election board will adversely impact disabled people, elderly voters, and rural residents who may have to travel several hours to present their documents to their local election boards.
Speak out and reach out to Congress
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Don’t Georgia conservatives realize that the DPOC requirement will harm many of their own constituents who fall into the above categories?
What should you do? First, Georgians must become informed about the implications of the DPOC requirement.
Then, tell everyone to call our U.S. Senators and Representatives to voice our concerns about this un-American idea to restrict voting so unfairly — and warn them we will be paying attention to how they vote on the SAVE Act.
If all Georgians, regardless of party, fight against Trump’s attempts to require documentary proof of citizenship in order to vote, we will help to preserve the right of every American citizen to vote.
State Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, represents District 90 in the Georgia General Assembly. David Worley is a former chair of the Georgia Democratic Party. Elizabeth Johnson is counsel for the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.
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