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Tell Your Senators

Oppose

SAVE Act 2.0

In the last session of Congress, the House passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which remains a harmful attempt to make voting harder and elections more difficult to administer. Take action now to oppose SAVE Act 2.0.

Congressional Republicans have launched a renewed effort to advance the SAVE Act. We and others are calling it SAVE Act 2.0 to help the public and Congress understand that it is more of the same, not substantively different. In fact, the new SAVE Act 2.0 iterations are worse. Proponents are also trying new pressure tactics, as shown in the February letter from the House Republican Study Committee to Senator McConnell (RSC).

This time, the majority approaches the effort by adding two new permutations of that legislation, the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, HR 7300, (Rep. Steil), as well as the Save America Act, HR 7296/S.1383, (Rep. Roy)(Sen. Lee)(Sen. Scott). While using new names, these two new bills are actually more of the same from the Majority (Brennan Center). Some say they are worse.

These bills do many bad things, but they have two foundational purposes:

Make it harder to vote: These proposals may disenfranchise millions of eligible voters from participating in upcoming elections, ahead of the midterms (The Hill).
Make it harder to administer elections: These proposals require major and immediate changes to local operations, with neither a grace period nor funding for implementation (Oyer).

As a whole, the trio of bills is viewed as an effort to create voting chaos, making it hard for local jurisdictions to comply with the law and thereby increasing the likelihood of legal interventions and challenges to vote outcomes, similar to what we saw in 2020. If nothing else, the SAVE Act “places election officials in the position of making high-stakes judgment calls without clear statutory direction” (BPC).

The pretext of non-citizen voting is rare. Evidence-based research suggests, “just 0.04% of voter verification cases are returned as non-citizens” (Forbes).

So we’re urging Senators to oppose the SAVE Act.

bit.ly/SAVE-Act2

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Reminder, the federal process is important, driving the overall impetus at the behest of the White House, but the assault on our access to the ballot box is also happening at the state level. State-level SAVE Act copycat bills are being advanced. Just as federal bills threaten to disenfranchise eligible voters and complicate elections, state bills do the same. Search for state organizations engaging in your state's versions of these SAVE Act 2.0 bills.

Background:

Extremist lawmakers have been championing the SAVE Act and corralling supportive votes on this anti-voter law designed to make it harder to register and vote. The U.S. State Department estimates that a whopping 46.9% of American Citizens did not have a valid passport in FY 2024, which implies about 150 million voters would have great difficulty proving their citizenship.

The legislative branch has a constitutional responsibility to safeguard free and fair elections and ensure all American citizens can freely, securely, and easily exercise their right to vote. The SAVE Act and SAVE Act 2.0 bills would undermine easy access, making our elections less free and less fair. In our opinion, the documentation burden amounts to a poll tax, proving that citizenship is not a free or easy process.

Analysis and Coverage:

SAVE Act Bills Would Still Block Millions of Americans From Voting, Brennan Center
Saving the Senate from the SAVE Act, National Review
Five Things to Know About the SAVE Act, BPC
House Bill Would Hurt American Voters, Brennan Center
The SAVE Act would hurt rural voters, CAP
SAVE Act Summary + its impact on Tribal Voters, Campaign Legal Center
The SAVE Act’s Impact on Voter Registration, Brennan Center
The Truth about False Claims of Noncitizen Voting, Voting Rights Lab
Noncitizens Are Not Voting in Federal or State Elections — Here’s Why, Brennan Center
What You Need to Know About the SAVE Act, Campaign Legal Center
Thune: Senate GOP will discuss using ‘standing filibuster’ to help pass voting reform, The Hill
Top Republicans throw cold water on ‘nationalizing’ elections (and SAVE intel), Roll Call

UU Grounding

As of General Assembly 2024, as Unitarian Universalists, we have agreed to “adopt new language on core religious values.” We agree love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. The values we share include all the following, which we hold as inseparable and deeply interconnected: Interdependence, Pluralism, Justice, Transformation, Generosity, and Equity. (Read more on the Article II revision process.)

With these agreed core religious values in mind, we also ground our call to preserve easy access to the vote in support of a healthy democracy in the following Unitarian Universalist Statements:

Stop Voter Suppression and Partner for Voting Rights and a Multiracial Democracy, 2021 AIW
Undoing Systemic White Supremacy: A Call to Prophetic Action, 2021 SOC
Our Democracy Uncorrupted, 2019 SOC
Oppose Citizens United—Support Free Speech for People, 2011 AIW
Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society, 2007 SOC
Voting Rights for Communities of Color, 2007 RR

Tell your Senators they must

Oppose SAVE Act 2.0

The federal government should not get in the way of our ability to vote. Senators must oppose any SAVE Act 2.0 bills, proposals that will make voting harder and elections more difficult to administer.

Congressional Republicans have launched a renewed effort to advance the SAVE Act. Now, the Majority is also pushing the MEGA Act and the Save America Act.

These bills do many bad things; they make it harder to vote and to administer elections.

Tell your federal Senators to preserve easy access to the vote, and do so by opposing the SAVE Act 2.0 bills!

This action sends messages according to the Senator's party and vote disposition on the matter.

Senate, Thanks, keep it up

Subject: Oppose SAVE Act and similar bills; thanks, keep it up

Message:

As your constituent and a person of faith, I oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, including the new permutations—the Make Elections Great Again Act (MEGA) and the Save America Act, collectively referred to as SAVE Act 2.0. Thanks for voicing your concerns. Keep it up. Get louder. Requiring citizens to present a passport or birth certificate to register or update their voter registration will impede access to the ballot box, affecting legitimate voters across many groups. Further, the proposals fail to include adequate funding or implementation time. Oppose SAVE Act 2.0 bills at every turn. They will make voting more difficult and complicate election administration, thereby increasing the likelihood of errors, difficulties, and challenges to the counts. Keep asking the hard questions and make clear to the public and your Senate colleagues how the SAVE Act 2.0 effort will undermine a healthy, inclusive democracy and a pluralistic republic. I am confident your constituents, my neighbors, agree that voting is a nearly sacred right. Regular people think our U.S. voting system should be easy for citizens to use. Please advocate for that. My faith tradition teaches celebrating full participation in society and using democratic processes in our congregations and society at large. I fear the negative impact of these bills. I urge you to oppose the SAVE Act 2.0 bills. Keep up the work you have been doing. Thank you,

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Senate, Side with Easy Access

Subject: Oppose SAVE Act and similar bills, side with easy access

Message:

As your constituent and a person of faith, I oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, including the new permutations—the Make Elections Great Again Act (MEGA) and the Save America Act. Requiring citizens to present a passport or birth certificate to update or register to vote will impede access to the ballot box, affecting legitimate voters across many groups. Further, the proposals fail to include adequate funding or implementation time. Oppose these SAVE Act bills at every turn. They will make voting more difficult and complicate election administration, thereby increasing the likelihood of errors, difficulties, and prolonged counts. Keep asking the insightful questions. Let your public record show your Senate colleagues how these proposals will undermine smoothly functioning elections. Most Americans agree that voting is a nearly sacred right, and our U.S. voting system should be easy for citizens to use. Collaborate with states to improve voting, do not rob them of their authority and sovereignty to administer our votes. My faith tradition celebrates responsible participation and using democratic processes in our congregations and society at large. I fear the negative impact of these bills. I urge you to oppose these SAVE Act bills. Thank you,

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Senate, Voting is nearly Sacred

Subject: No on SAVE Act and similar bills, voting is nearly sacred

Message:

As your constituent and a person of faith, I oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, including the new permutations—the Make Elections Great Again Act (MEGA) and the Save America Act. Requiring passports or birth certificates to vote will impede access to the ballot box, affecting many legitimate voters. Further, the bills fail to include adequate funding or implementation time. Oppose these bills at every turn. They will make voting more difficult and complicate election administration, thereby increasing the likelihood of errors, difficulties, and prolonged counts. Let your public record show your Senate colleagues how these bills will undermine smoothly functioning elections. Most Americans agree that voting is a nearly sacred right, and our U.S. voting system should be easy for citizens to use. Collaborate with states to improve voting; do not rob them of their sovereignty to administer our votes. We need to follow the Constitution's guidelines on roles. My faith tradition celebrates responsible participation and using democratic processes in our congregations and society at large. I fear the negative impact of these bills. I urge you to oppose these SAVE Act bills. Thank you,

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Senate, Don't abandon voters

Subject: No vote on Save Act and similar bills, don't abandon voters

Message:

As your constituent and a person of faith, I oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, including the new permutations—the Make Elections Great Again Act (MEGA) and the Save America Act, collectively referred to as SAVE Act 2.0. Requiring citizens to present a passport or birth certificate to update or register to vote will impede access to the ballot box, affecting legitimate voters across many groups. Further, the proposals fail to include adequate funding or implementation time. Oppose SAVE Act 2.0 bills. They will make voting more difficult and complicate election administration, thereby increasing the likelihood of errors, difficulties, and challenges to the counts. Make clear to the public and your Senate colleagues how the SAVE Act 2.0 effort will undermine a healthy, inclusive democracy and a pluralistic republic. I am confident your constituents, my neighbors, agree that voting is a nearly sacred right. Regular people think voting should be easy. Please support that. My faith tradition teaches celebrating full participation in society and using democratic processes in our congregations and society at large. I fear the negative impact of these bills. I urge you to oppose the SAVE Act 2.0 bills. Thank you,

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Senate, Side with State Sovereignty

Subject: No on Save Act and similar bills, side with State sovereignty

Message:

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