Coalition Letter Opposing S. 1383, The So-Called “SAVE America Act”

A PDF of this letter can be found here

February 24, 2026

Dear Senator,

We, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 146 undersigned organizations, write to express our strong opposition to S. 1383, the “SAVE America Act,” H.R. 7300, the “Make Elections Great Again Act,” and H.R.22, the original “SAVE Act.” The Leadership Conference intends to include your position on any of these bills in our voting record for the 119th Congress. 

Our multi-racial democracy rises and falls on ensuring that every citizen can participate in our elections and decide who may best represent them. But we are witnessing unprecedented disinformation campaigns and intrusions on the ability of states to make sound decisions on how to run their elections. Driven by this misinformation, all three bills contain an unnecessary and burdensome requirement that will make it harder and more expensive for eligible U.S. citizens to register to vote. They do this despite the fact that state election officials take painstaking efforts to identify and correct the relatively few instances of mistakes or errors.

The proof of citizenship requirements in these bills are not necessary to secure American elections. Instead, they would do nothing more than exclude eligible voters—particularly Latino, Black, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Native American citizens; married women who have changed their names; low-income people; and people with disabilities—from the electorate and our democracy. This federal push to make voting harder builds upon increasingly restrictive voting laws enacted throughout the country in recent years, and it would prevent millions of eligible voters from exercising their most important civil right.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), 31 states have enacted 114 restrictive voting laws, which disproportionately burden voters of color. The harm has been palpable: Racial disparities in voter turnout have been increasing, particularly in areas formerly protected by the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance provision, which the Court dismantled.

The provisions in these bills would only increase the disparities and further reduce turnout among certain groups of voters. That is what they are designed to do. Instead of being honest about what is behind the desperate push to enact these bills, proponents constantly resort to baseless allegations of voter fraud—which are deeply rooted in dangerous myths and stereotypes, and which continually get knocked down in courtrooms, statewide audits, and independent investigations.

These bills require documentation that millions of American citizens simply do not have. Approximately half of American adults do not have a passport, and two-thirds of Black Americans do not. Older citizens are less likely to have them. In some states, such as West Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama, over 70% of citizens do not have a passport. Latino and Black citizens are less likely to have a current driver’s license, and the same is true of people with disabilities. Latino citizens are most likely to have problems voting because of an issue related to their ID. The bills would also disproportionately burden married women and other people who have changed their name. Nationwide, 69 million married women do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name. And the reliance of these bills on federal databases would increase the likelihood that citizens will see their registrations wrongly purged or their personal information compromised.

The bills would also needlessly impose significant and unfunded administrative burdens on election officials throughout the country, increasing—rather than decreasing—the likelihood of problems in elections, from mistakes to outright discrimination. And they subject these hardworking election officials to criminal penalties simply for doing their job, creating the possibility of prosecution even if they register a fully eligible U.S. citizen voter, if that person hasn’t shown the required proof of citizenship.

Any of these bills would turn the constitutional responsibility of Congress to ensure free and fair elections on its head. As such, we urge you to reject them.

Sincerely,

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Advancement Project
Advocates for Trans Equality
African American Policy Forum
AFT
All Voting is Local Action
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Atheists
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees
American Humanist Association
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Andrew Goodman Foundation
Arab American Institute (AAI)
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance-AFL-CIO (APALA)
Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Black to the Future Action Fund
Black Voters Matter Fund
Campaign Legal Center
Center for Public Representation
Center for Responsible Lending
Christopher Street Project
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
Coalition on Human Needs
Common Cause
Community Change Action
Defend The Vote Action Fund
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated
DemCast USA
Democracy Defenders Action
Demos
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
Disciples Center for Public Witness (Disciples of Christ)
Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN)
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
End Citizens United
Equal Justice Society
Equal Rights Advocates
Equality California
ERA Coalition
Essential Information
Fair Count
Fair Elections Center
Faiths for Safe Water
Feminist Majority
Freedom From Religion Foundation
Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP)
HeadCount
Hispanic Federation
Hispanic National Bar Association
Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Impact Fund
Interfaith Alliance
Japanese American Citizens League
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
JustLeadershipUSA
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
Lambda Legal
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Lawyers for Good Government
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
League of Conservation Voters
League of Women Voters of the United States
Legal Action Center
MALDEF
Matthew Shepard Foundation
Mi Familia Vota
MomsRising
Movement Advancement Project
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
NALEO Educational Fund
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
National Association of Social Workers
National CAPACD- National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Negro Women
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Education Association
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Immigration Law Center
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
National LGBTQ+ Bar Association
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for New Americans
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Redistricting Foundation
National Urban League
National Women’s Law Center
Native American Rights Fund
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates
People For the American Way
People Power United
People’s Parity Project
PFLAG National
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Protect Democracy
Reproductive Freedom for All
Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
Rock the Vote
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)
Silver State Equality
Sojourners
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Southern Poverty Law Center
Stand Up America
Stop AAPI Hate
The Arc of the United States
The Sikh Coalition
Transparency International U.S.
T’ruah
UnidosUS
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Concerned Scientists
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice
United Church of Christ
Voices for Progress
Voter Participation Center
VoteRiders
Voto Latino
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
We are CASA
Western States Center
Women Lawyers On Guard Action Network
Women of Reform Judaism
YWCA USA