Attorney General Nessel Opposes Bill to Create Substantial Barriers to Voting

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in sending a letter to congressional leadership (PDF) in opposition to H.R. 22, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. Attorney General Nessel and the coalition argue that the proposed legislation would create unnecessary and burdensome proof-of-citizenship requirements that would effectively disenfranchise millions of eligible voters across the country.

The SAVE Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship before registering to vote. The attorneys general emphasize that this requirement would reverse three decades of progress made under the NVRA, which was designed to remove barriers to voter registration and promote greater participation in the democratic process.

“Michigan has fought tirelessly to ensure our elections are fair, accessible, and secure,” Nessel said. “The SAVE Act threatens to unravel decades of progress by imposing costly, burdensome voter registration requirements designed not to protect democracy, but to suppress voter turnout. I stand proudly with my colleagues in opposition to H.R. 22, which undermines the fundamental rights of voters.”

In the letter to House Speaker Michael Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the attorneys general emphasize that non-citizen voting is extremely rare. Studies show that in jurisdictions with high immigration populations, only 0.0001% of votes cast were by non-citizens. Despite this negligible risk, the SAVE Act would impose substantial burdens on eligible voters, particularly affecting poor and minority communities.

Attorney General Nessel and the coalition warn that the legislation would create significant obstacles for eligible voters, including:  

• Requiring expensive documentation, such as passports or birth certificates that perfectly match current names;
• Mandating in-person presentation of citizenship documents, effectively eliminating online voter registration systems currently available in 42 states;
• Creating barriers for married women and others whose birth certificates do not match their current names; and
• Jeopardizing the franchise for active-duty service members who cannot return to their local election offices. 

“Over 21 million voting-age citizens do not have ready access to a passport, birth record, or naturalization record,” the attorneys general note in their letter. “And 80% of married women would not have a valid birth certificate under the SAVE Act because those women chose to adopt their partner's last name.”

The attorneys general also highlight concerns about the substantial administrative and financial burdens the Act would place on state election systems. The legislation would require states to fundamentally restructure their voter registration procedures and create new systems for document verification while criminalizing mistakes made by election officials with penalties of up to five years in prison.

Attorney General Nessel and the coalition urge congressional leadership to oppose the SAVE Act and maintain accessible voting rights for all eligible Americans. Protecting election integrity should not come at the cost of disenfranchising legitimate voters.

Joining Attorney General Nessel in sending this letter are Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the coalition, and the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

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