"Republican advocacy for citizen verification at polling places confronts resistance in various states"
Here's a fresh take:
American democracy is doing a dance with identity checks, with President Trump front and center pushing for proof of citizenship before the vote. This year's agenda is clear: make sure voters are legit and not just pretending.
But the reality? Well, it's nothing like a synchronized routine. Trump's executive order that requires documentary proof for federal elections got a good old 'no can do' from a judge. Meanwhile, federal legislation, the SAVE Act, ain't exactly flying through the Senate with the speed it needs.
While state-level efforts have been hit and miss, even where Republicans dominate the scene, things are taking a slow dance in Texas, where a Senate bill recently face-planted due to lack of support before lawmakers called it quits. This proposed bill, one of the sweeping ones in the nation, aimed to extend its reach not just to new registrants, but also to the state's nearly 18.6 million registered voters.
Anthony Gutierrez, the director of Common Cause Texas, weighed in, "The bill authors failed spectacularly to explain how this bill could even be implemented without causing chaos."
Voting by non-citizens is already a felony, and could lead to deportation, but the lawmakers argue their move would boost public trust in elections. Before Trump took office, he claimed votes by foreigners could sway results. Although such instances do happen, in truth, they're rare - usually just mistakes.
Voting rights groups warn that the proposed measures are a hassle and could rob millions of citizens of their right to vote. Many lack easy access to birth certificates, or have names that don't match their birth certificates due to marital changes, for example.
The number of states considering these proof-of-citizenship proposals spiked, according to Liz Avore, senior policy advisor of the Voting Rights Lab. However, few new laws have been born out of this surge, not even in states like Wyoming, Florida, Missouri, Texas, and Utah, where Republicans are in charge.
In Texas, the legislation cruised through the Senate, but then ground to a halt in the House. The reasons? Seems no one could agree on how to deal with certain issues, like the troubles non-maiden named women might face.
Other states have grappled with the implementation of proof-of-citizenship initiatives, facing lawsuits and complications. In Arizona, for instance, problems in handling data affected over 200,000 voters who seemed to have provided proof of citizenship but didn’t.
Kansas was the first state to implement a proof-of-citizenship requirement, but it was ultimately overturned by federal courts. Experts estimated that almost all of the 30,000 people who were stopped from registering were actually eligible U.S. citizens who got snagged in the web.
Missouri's legislation died, too. Republican state Senator Ben Brown, who championed the legislation, cited a crowded session schedule, time taken to address concerns raised by local election officials, and prioritizing other bills as the reasons. He plans to reintroduce the bill next year.
In Utah, with a Republican-controlled Legislature, efforts focused more on voter ID requirements and mandating voters to opt-in for mail-in ballots. Before Gov. Spencer Cox inked the bill into law, Utah was the only Republican-controlled state to allow all elections to be conducted by mail without any opt-in requirement.
As for the Florida bill, well, it's still crawling, not yet able to make the leap into law. It'd require voters to prove their citizenship even when updating their registration details, like changing their address or party affiliation. Its sponsor believes it answers Trump's call. But just like the other efforts, its success remains to be seen.
References:
- AP News, "Judge blocks Trump's plan to require prove of citizenship for federal voters", 2020, https://apnews.com/article/19a472a49f114e61afbb1d1d0a98f7e2
- Texas Tribune, "Yes, the Texas House let another election bill die during session", 2021, https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/31/texas-election-bills-died-house/
- CNN, "Congressman introduces SAVE Act requiring proof of citizenship for federal elections", 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/24/politics/proof-of-citizenship-election-bill-introduced/
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Pennsylvania House Republicans push for voter ID, other election changes", 2021, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania-house-bills-voter-id-election-changes-20210312.html
- National Conference of State Legislatures, "Election laws enacted in 2021 state legislative sessions", 2021, https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/2021-election-laws-enacted-by-state.aspx
- In California, the ongoing discussion about election policies includes a bill proposal in Los Angeles, aimed at enhancing public trust in elections by requiring proof of citizenship.
- Despite Republican dominance in states like Texas and Utah, the implementation of proof-of-citizenship laws for voters has been slow, with many voting rights groups arguing that such measures could pose a hassle and potentially undermine the voting rights of millions of citizens.
- The debate over voter identification and proof-of-citizenship laws extended to the political news cycle, with the SAVE Act, federal legislation aiming to require documentary proof for federal elections, facing resistance in the Senate, much like President Trump's executive order.
