Recently, the Safeguard American Voter eligibility Act has been the subject of heated debate on Capitol Hill. This legislation, if passed, would amend federal law, specifically the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, by establishing more aggressive national standards for federal voting.
“Requiring a photo ID to vote is just common sense, and it’s not that hard,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D debating the bill on the floor of the Senate.
This is President Trump’s legislative priority, per his Truth Social post vowing not to sign any other bills until this passes.
“Most people don’t understand about the SAVE Act is that it’s not just about presenting an ID in order to vote a photo ID, but the Save Act, rather requires, or would require, Americans to present ID to prove citizenship,” said Julie Johnson, a College of the Canyons History Professor.
According to Johnson, many women have raised concerns.
“The SAVE Act would be really problematic for married women, because it requires proof of citizenship,” said Johnson.
“For example, if I didn’t have a passport, my driver’s license says Julie Johnson, but my birth certificate has my maiden name.”
The Trump Administration claims the SAVE Act was proposed to improve the voting process.
“We do have a system that, for the most part, works, but just because the system works doesn’t mean it can’t be improved,” said Phil Gussin, a College of the Canyons Political Science Professor.
“So proponents of the SAVE Act argue that this is an attempt to go ahead and improve the situation.”
According to polls, the 2022 election cycle shows that young voters, especially college students, faced unique challenges that resulted in low voter turnout, including residency status, access to the polls and more.
“The opponents of the SAVE Act argue that young people are one of the are one of the groups that can be most likely affected by the adoption of the saved act, so I think our students should be particularly concerned about it,” said Gussin.
Under the SAVE Act, Student ID’s will no longer be recognized as proof of voter eligibility. A Pew Research Center Poll found that 83% of U.S adults are in favor of government-issued IDs to vote, while 16% oppose it. A Discussion Forum on the SAVE Act will be held on the College of the Canyons Campus on Thursday, April 16th, at 4:00 pm at Boykin Hall.
