Donald Trump signed a broad anti-voter executive order (EO) in March, but its impact was mostly symbolic, since presidents cannot make such law unilaterally. EOs merely tell federal officials how POTUS would like to see existing law applied.
But this week, Congress is voting on a horrific voter suppression bill, HR 22, that Trump would sign into law if passed. The bill, referred to by anti-democracy groups as the “SAVE Act” would force states to require that people show proof of citizenship every time they register to vote.
More than 21 million eligible voters lack accessible proof-of-citizenship documents and nearly 70 million married women who took their spouse’s surname could face problems registering (Pew Research estimates this is 80 percent of married women). Many more people could be blocked from voting entirely because their birth documentation differs from current identification in some way.
The bill passed the House on April 10. We urge you to call phone the U.S. Capitol switchboard ASAP at (202) 224-3121 to advise your Senators on your thoughts.
For more detail, we recommend this Ari Berman report in Mother Jones and this Demos report.