The bill would require anyone registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship—a valid U.S. passport, or a photo ID presented with a certified birth certificate.
This presents a pretty big problem for a large group of people: women, especially married women who have changed their name, a group that numbers over 69 million. If the SAVE Act becomes law, any time one of those millions of women goes to register to vote for the first time or change their voter registration—maybe they moved to a new address—they could be turned away if the names on their identification and birth certificate don’t match.
If you have any doubts about the intent behind this rights-robbing bill just look at the men behind it.
First off, there’s Peter Thiel: billionaire MAGA donor, sugar daddy of JD Vance and a notable Trump ally. In 2009, Thiel said “the extension of the franchise to women” turned democracy into a joke.
Then, there’s Mark Thompson, a GOP-endorsed North Carolina candidate for governor in 2024, who has publicly called for a return to the days when women couldn’t vote.
They already know who is a citizen just like they already know your tax data, and just like your tax return, your voter registration should be automatic and unquestionable.
The American government is breaking every social covenant with the American citizens, and they are insulting our intelligence every step of the way.
No wonder China is eating our lunch.
Wouldn’t this mean that either photo IDs or passports would have to become free of charge? Anything else would be effectively a voting tax, no?
If their stated goal was the truth and they wanted to follow the law, yes.
As it is, it’s blatant and intentional voter suppression.
What is it with the USA and their inability to have an ID?
If you mean a “National ID” then Republicans have been against that for reasons of “freedom” and some stupid Bible reference.
If you mean why do Americans have such hard times acquiring an ID? Well, that’s by design, because a very powerful minority hate democracy. There’s probably millions of people that live over an hour away from the nearest ID issuing office and/or their closest office is open only a few hours a week (yes, per week). There’s also plenty of instances of people being unable to sufficiently “prove” they are who they say they are because they don’t have their own birth certificate and can’t afford to buy it.
We’re barely even a Republic anymore and we were probably never a Democracy.
Nothing gives conservative American politicians a bigger hard-on than the idea of a stateless slave workforce.
Apparently enslaved humans and animals you’re going to eat have something in common: if you give them a name (ID), then you have to take care of them.
This is more about the type of ID you need mixed with the cost/effort of acquiring that ID.
Essentially, changes to ID laws impact voting by:
- Making voting cost money - the government doesn’t provide these IDs for free
- Making voting cost more time - getting theses IDs may require people (especially women who have changed names) to spend time navigating the beuracracy to get all the documents they need for the new ID requirements
At the end of the day, voting should be free and people shouldn’t be penalized for how they do it. These kinds of laws try to make voting time intensive and expensive, meaning many people may not be able to vote.
Not all people have ID, but the bigger danger with this one is that it’s targeting people whose name doesn’t match what’s on the official record. And that mostly means recently married women and trans people. Two groups that conservatives don’t want voting. As ever, it’s not about the IDs.
This attitude is pretty prevalent here for some reason:
We don’t want no gotdang national ID. Don’t want the gubmint tracking me or putting me in no database.
==Sent from my iPhone
The closest we have to a national ID is a passport. However, there are new ID requirements for something called a Real ID. It’s basically an enhanced driver’s license / state ID that complies with federal standards. When I got mine last year, I don’t think the process was any different from renewing my old-style driver’s license. The only noticeable difference is they gave me a black and white printout temporary ID to use for the two weeks it took to receive the ID card in the mail.
The weirdest thing about it, though, is that it looks crappier and cheaper than the old “insecure” driver’s license I had before.
My question to the rest of the world: Are y’all this obsessed with birth certificates? I feel like it’s ridiculous here.
The US has no free, standardized, national ID card.
Each individual state does it on their own. They all have their own rules and levels of verification.Recently there is a national standard created. If the state ID meets that standard it has a gold star emblem in one corner. I believe part of that standard is proof of citizenship. But I’m not sure all state ID yet meet that standard, compliance has been pushed back several times; Mostly by conservative states. I think we can now see the real reason for that, instead of the commonly stated “government over reach”.
Many do. Others don’t. It’s not required for living generally, and it isn’t needed to validate a vote. This is an invented problem to try and control who can vote. One party has to do that to survive, and they’re very good at minimizing turnout of people who might vote against them. As you can see.
