WASHINGTON — Today, Representative Lou Correa (CA-46) voted against GOP-led H.R. 22, the SAVE Act, and released the following statement:
“Let me be clear: Non-citizens are already barred from registering and voting in federal elections, and would receive jail time or face deportation as a result. This flawed legislation is redundant and opens the door to making voting for American citizens much more difficult,” Correa said. “This bill would bar American citizens from using drivers’ licenses, military IDs, or Tribal IDs as proof of citizenship. People who have changed their names, including millions of married women, would not be allowed to use their birth certificates to prove their citizenship, either. And veterans abroad, as well as active duty servicemembers, would essentially lose their right to vote, too.”
“Voter fraud has never been an issue in Orange County. On the contrary, Orange County has had a storied history of voter suppression and voter intimidation—especially here in Santa Ana, where in decades-past, poll watchers profiled certain individuals in our heavily Latino neighborhoods. This is just one of many illegal acts perpetrated to intimidate voters. While time has passed and we’ve rectified that history, the damage was done—and fear remains. I refuse to support any attempt to make casting a ballot by legal American citizens more challenging,” he concluded. “This bill is nothing more than voter suppression disguised as election reform. That’s why I voted ‘no.’”
###