WA Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez flooded with boos at town hall after supporting the SAVE Act

U.S. Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, was showered with boos during her fourth town hall as hundreds of community members lined up around the building to voice their displeasure.

One of the most contentious moments of the town hall was Gluesenkamp Perez’ defense for voting in favor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require voters to provide documentation, such as a U.S. passport or government-issued ID with a certified birth certificate, when registering to vote in federal elections. Gluesenkamp Perez was one of four Democrats to vote in favor of the SAVE Act, alongside all House Republicans.

“I do not support noncitizens voting in American elections—and that’s common sense to folks in Southwest Washington,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in a prepared statement. “Voting in our nation’s elections is a sacred right belonging only to American citizens, and my vote for the SAVE Act reflects that principle.”

Gluesenkamp Perez even offered up her own legislation, dubbed the “Let America Vote Act,” which would allegedly improve election integrity without creating additional bureaucratic hurdles. Despite Gluesenkamp Perez voting for the SAVE Act, she claimed it’s a bill that won’t pass in the Senate.

“I also understand the SAVE Act stands no chance of passage in the Senate due to the filibuster, as well as several deeply flawed provisions,” she added.

But opponents to the bill argued that this would disenfranchise legal citizens who lack access to the required documentation needed to vote, lowering voter turnout to an even more significant degree.

“My last name is not the same as what’s on my birth certificate,” Lynn Busby told KATU. “I know a lot of people who don’t know where their birth certificate is. It’s just another way for her to suppress the vote. And I feel like it’s because of her donors.”

Many attending the town hall meeting crafted signs, some read “How Dare You,” “The SHAME Act,” and “We the people demand you do better,” while others chanted, “Vote her out.”

“I just think that Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is not turning out to be the person I thought I was fighting for,” a town hall attendant, Cheryl Pauling, said.

“She says she is a Democrat, but as a Democrat, she doesn’t represent me,” Destiny Dodge, who also attended the event, added.

If the SAVE Act becomes law

The bill, if passed, would require people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. States would also be required to remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters. The bill even adds criminal penalties to violations of this act, and includes the ability for people to sue an election official if they register a person to vote who fails to present proof of U.S. citizenship.

Supporters of the bill argue that this creates more safeguards to America’s election system.

“The U.S. has not adequately enforced federal election requirements that, for example, prohibit states from counting ballots received after Election Day or prohibit noncitizens from registering to vote,” the White House stated.

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