‘Big impact on new WA registrations’: Elections director warns SAVE America Act could lower voter turnout

President Donald Trump’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship for new voters, but would make voting more challenging for most people, according to Stuart Holmes, the Director of Elections for the Washington Secretary of State.

Holmes told “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio that the act would add extra barriers to voting, especially since the majority of the public does not have an enhanced ID.

“The most common source of proof of citizenship in the state of Washington would be those enhanced IDs or enhanced driver’s licenses that people have potentially seen to get on an airplane or board a flight at SEA Airport. The unfortunate reality is 67% of the public does not have an enhanced ID,” Holmes explained.

“What that would mean is that those drivers who just have your regular old-fashioned ID or driver’s license would actually have to bring in a birth certificate. And unfortunately, if that birth certificate does not have your current name, if you’ve changed your name over the period of time, you’d have to bring another piece of ID to establish that identity,” he continued.

SAVE America Act could lead to long lines, delays

With voter turnout already being low in some elections, Holmes said the bill could further reduce participation. It could also lead to long lines and delays at centralized locations where voters would be required to provide proof of citizenship in person.

“It would actually have a big impact on new registrations in the state of Washington,” Holmes said. “The critical component of this is that the proof of citizenship would have to be provided in person. And unlike other states that may have precinct polling places or anything like that, in the state of Washington, where we’re all vote-by-mail and have centralized resources, all voters would have to descend upon the same voting location to provide that proof of citizenship, which we just don’t simply have the infrastructure to support, and so that would mean long lines and delays.”

He noted voter fraud and illegal citizens voting — what the bill aims to prevent — is extremely rare, and that Washington already has resources in place to prevent illegal voting.

“We have signature verification. We have ID verification at the time of registration. And we have a very extensive list maintenance process to remove, in compliance with federal law, deceased voters, voters that are ineligible due to total confinement in federal or state prison,” he said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.