Editor’s note: CHN sent this letter to all Senate offices on March 19, 2026.

Dear Senator: 

As the Senate considers the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act (S.1383), on behalf of the Coalition on Human Needs, we urge you to vote NO on this legislation. 

The Coalition on Human Needs brings together human service providers, faith communities, policy experts, civil rights and labor organizations, and others committed to meeting the needs of people with low incomes. Our members see firsthand how barriers to civic participation intersect with economic hardship. When eligible voters face unnecessary obstacles to registering or casting a ballot, their ability to advocate for their families and communities is diminished. Policies that make participation more difficult can discourage engagement and weaken representation in decisions that shape access to health care, housing, nutrition, and other basic needs. 

The SAVE America Act, while framed as an election integrity measure, would impose new documentation requirements that risk disenfranchising millions of eligible American voters without addressing a demonstrated problem. Repeated attempts to document ineligible people voting have failed to uncover abuses. SAVE America is aimed at excluding eligible voters; you must reject this attack on our democracy. 

It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and existing federal and state systems are in place to verify voter eligibility. Rather than strengthening existing systems, the SAVE America Act would require every American to provide documentary proof of citizenship—such as a passport or original birth certificate—when registering to vote or updating their registration.

In practice, these requirements would create significant obstacles. More than 150 million American citizens do not have a passport, and as many as 21 million eligible voters do not have ready access to proof of citizenship documents. For many others, the name on their birth certificate might not match the name on their Real ID driver’s license; that is true for tens of millions of married women and individuals who have changed their names for other reasons. 

If those seeking to vote do not have a passport or birth certificate, they will have to pay to get these documents. A new full passport costs $165; a new passport card (for land travel typically to Mexico) costs $65. Replacement birth certificates cost about $10 – $30, depending on the state, plus shipping costs. These costs are a new form of poll tax, a required fee for millions of people who lack the needed documents. While people with higher incomes (who are already more likely to have these documents) will not find these costs tremendously burdensome, people whose incomes are low and who struggle to pay for basic needs may effectively be denied the vote. Others who are willing to pay may still be excluded from the polls because of the long wait time before they receive the needed documents. 

These burdens would fall unevenly across the population. In addition to voters with low incomes, rural voters, many of whom rely on remote registration options, would face significant logistical challenges— in some cases requiring travel of several hours simply to access in-person registration or voting services. Older and disabled voters will also face greater barriers. 

The legislation would also disrupt widely used and secure methods of voter registration, including online registration (available in 42 states), mail-in registration, and community-based registration efforts. These systems have expanded participation while maintaining election security. In the 2024 election, nearly one in three voters—approximately 48 million Americans—cast their ballots by mail, underscoring how central these options have become to participation. Restricting or undermining these methods would make voting more difficult for tens of millions of eligible voters and could place additional strain on in-person election systems, particularly during high-turnout elections. 

Past experience underscores these risks. A similar proof-of-citizenship requirement in Kansas blocked more than 35,000 eligible U.S. citizens from registering to vote—before it was struck down.

Public policy should be grounded in evidence and designed to solve real problems. Imposing broad new documentation requirements in the absence of demonstrated need risks undermining both voter participation and public confidence in our democratic institutions.

Congress has a responsibility to strengthen the systems that support free, fair, and accessible elections. Efforts to improve election security should build on existing safeguards while ensuring that eligible voters are not excluded.

For these reasons, we urge you to vote NO on the SAVE America Act and any related proposals that would impose unnecessary barriers to voter registration and participation. This is a moment to uphold both the integrity and the inclusiveness of our electoral system.

Sincerely, 

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director