LWV-Los Alamos News: 

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan nonprofit organization with the mission of educating Americans about their rights as well as their responsibilities of citizenship. The initial responsibility for being an American citizen is to register to vote, become an informed voter in order to vote your values, and then cast that vote. The initial responsibilities of the elected government are to allow each voter to vote and abide by the decision.

Your vote matters. If it didn’t, why are so many people trying to prevent you from voting?

The LWV-Los Alamos joins the LWV US in urging our citizens to comment on this new attempt to require burdensome documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment—we need your help to stop it.

The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is considering a petition asking it to initiate a process that would add documentary proof of citizenship to the federal voter registration form. Much like the SAVE Act, this proposal would force Americans to show specific, costly, hard-to-access documents like passports before registering to vote. An estimated 21 million Americans could be shut out from the ballot box, particularly rural voters, students, women, communities of color, and members of the military.

https://www.lwv.org/take-action/urge-eac-not-require-documentary-proof-citizenship

Requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections creates unnecessary barriers for eligible voters. It’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote, and asking citizens to provide additional documentation is an obstacle that could disproportionately affect vulnerable groups like:

• Military families, who are often relocated, and for whom proving their citizenship can be complicated and burdensome.
• People who have lost essential documents due to disasters or personal hardships, for whom this requirement only adds stress to an already difficult situation.
• Women who’ve changed their name due to marriage, who could face challenges proving their identity or citizenship in ways that aren’t fair or practical.

We must ensure that all eligible Americans, regardless of their circumstances, have the opportunity to make their voices heard in our democracy. Voting is a fundamental right, and we should be working to make it as accessible as possible, not putting up more barriers.

Right now, the EAC is taking public comments from people like you to gather input on whether they should adopt this anti-voter initiative. They need to hear from you about how damaging this policy would be before they make their decision. And it only takes a couple of minutes to make your voice heard.

Comments must be submitted by Oct. 20 at midnight. Here’s how to submit a comment: 

1. Go to the petition page on regulations.gov.
2. Copy and paste the sample text below or create your own comment to include in the comment box.
3. Submit the comment as an individual. You may also submit anonymously. 

SAMPLE TEXT

Feel free to write a personal note or use some or all of our sample text: 

I’m against requiring citizens to submit a passport, birth certificate, or other citizenship documents to register to vote! Only half of American citizens have a passport, and 69 million American citizens don’t have a birth certificate with their current legal name on it. 

It is already illegal for noncitizens to register and vote in federal or state elections. Requiring a document to prove American citizenship to register to vote in federal elections is unnecessary. State election officials have systems to verify an individual voter’s eligibility and ensure voter rolls are accurate. There are many communities of eligible voters who would be unnecessarily burdened by the requirement of documentary proof of citizenship. Among them are military voters, families who have been impacted by natural disasters may have lost necessary documentation, and Americans who have changed their name, like married women.