The U.S. House has passed a bill that voting rights groups have repeatedly warned would make it harder for millions of Americans, including married women, to vote.

The Republican-controlled House on Thursday voted for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The legislation purportedly aims to block non-citizens from voting, which is already illegal and is very rare.

The bill would require an individual to present in person a passport, birth certificate or other citizenship document when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information.

Voting rights groups have said the bill will pose a barrier for millions of American women and others who have changed their legal name because of marriage, assimilation or to better align with their gender identity. An estimated 69 million American women and 4 million men do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.

Republicans who support the bill claim that states will be able to create processes so people can prove their citizenship if their name doesn’t match their birth certificate. 

Voting rights groups also worry the bill will disenfranchise others from marginalized communities who are less likely to have the necessary documentation on hand. More than 9 percent of citizens of voting age — or 21.3 million people — do not have documents that prove their citizenship readily available.

They also warn the bill, if it becomes law, would eliminate popular methods of voter registration, such as online, mail and registration drives — adding demands on a women-led election workforce that has faced burnout and harassment after years of disinformation about election integrity. 

The House also passed the SAVE Act last year, but it died in the Senate. It’s now headed back to upper chamber, where Republicans have a 53-seat majority and the legislation needs 60 votes to pass.

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The representatives from the Income Security and Child Care team explained that the House budget resolution proposes funding cuts to offset policies like attacking immigrant families and creating tax cuts for the wealthiest people and corporations. Although House Republicans have promised not to touch social service programs like Medicaid, the resolution advances a budget that cuts trillions of dollars for the committees that administer these programs, which may leave these committees no choice but to reduce or eliminate their services.

As such, programs like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); Social Services Block Grant (SSBG); Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Medicaid; and the Child Tax Credit are at risk. Social services are crucial to millions of women and children across the U.S. because they provide food assistance, healthcare, and federal funding to states for additional services. These programs also make it easier for families to afford childcare, which has been “prohibitively expensive” for many Americans in recent years.

NWLC is working to push back on harmful tax proposals like this one and minimize the damage to women, families, and the economy by educating the public on what these programs and tax changes will mean for everyday people. Through their collaborations with state advocates and constituents, they are facilitating conversations with congressional delegations on why the federal budget is important to the American people and emphasizing the real-world impacts of the changing budget. The Center is also promoting policy solutions that will help women and families, such as accessible childcare, raising taxes on the wealthy, and expanding a child tax credit. Members of the Income Security and Child Care team emphasized that childcare helps child development, stimulates the economy, and helps parents go to work, so it is beneficial to all people.

Politico recently reported that the Senate is unlikely to take up negotiations over the House budget resolution before the end of March, which is necessary to reach a compromise with the House. It will focus on funding the government before the projected shutdown date of March 14. The Feminist Majority Foundation encourages concerned constituents to call their Congressional representatives about the importance of securing funding for women and families. As Fatima Goss Graves said during the briefing, “I believe firmly that the antidote to fear is joining together in community in solidarity…Courage inspires more courage, and we are beginning to see that more and more.”

Originally published by the Feminist Majority Foundation.

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WASHINGTON–One of the top priorities for the new Congress is the so-called “SAVE Act,” which doesn’t save—it destroys. 

And once again, women will be among the first to find their rights taken away. 

Instead of safeguarding the right to vote it jeopardizes the freedom of millions by making it harder—or impossible—to access the ballot. 

The SAVE Act demands that voter registration applicants produce proof of citizenship documents—in person!   

That would functionally destroy mail registration, and impact more than 21.3 million people of voting age who don’t have proof of citizenship available. 

The fact is, most married women cannot present a valid birth certificate under the SAVE Act, as it does not display their current legal name. 

Just like that—the SAVE act threatens the vote for as many as 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name but do not have a matching birth certificate.  

And the SAVE act would make voting harder for seniors, adoptees, students, tribal citizens, low-income earners, active-duty military, voters of color, and more than 60 million people who live in rural areas by eliminating online voter registration overnight. 

Let’s not forget—every ounce of the “voting integrity” movement is built on lies.  A study of the 2016 election found that officials referred only an estimated 30 incidents of suspected noncitizen voting for further investigation or prosecution. 

But that’s enough for the backers of the SAVE Act—who only want to save their power over who gets to vote and whose votes are denied.   

The SAVE Act is a nightmare, a threat, and another blatant attempt by powerful interests and extremist politicians to disenfranchise millions of American citizens— 

Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike.  NOW calls on Congress to keep democracy safe and reject the SAVE Act. 

Originally published by National Organization for Women

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On March 8th, International Women’s Day:
Greetings to the Women of the World

With the selection of anti-women personalities like Donald Trump in the United States, Women for Racial and Economic Equality stands in solidarity with all women struggling to maintain their hard-won rights.

“Forward ever, backward never!” – Maurice Bishop, revolutionary leader of Grenada

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In 2025, the global community will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995).

The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2025.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session.

Themes

The main focus of the sixty-ninth session will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. The review will include an assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as its contribution to the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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