Midterms.
During this midterm election cycle, we are going to continue to hear a lot of talk about "safeguarding" the upcoming elections via the SAVE Act or the newly introduced "Make Elections Great Again Act". The links for both Bills are below, immediately followed by the current legislation in the United States for voter requirements.
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To summarize various government sites pertaining to this issue, here are some of the most basic requirements for voting in the United States:
- You have to be a United States Citizen to vote in Federal elections.
- Only in select states can a non-citizen who has a valid State Issued ID participate in select local elections. Non-citizens are not eligible to vote in Federal elections. This includes permanent residents. The new proposed legislation would prohibit registered non-citizens from voting in any election.
- You cannot register to vote in the United States without a valid State Issued ID.
- You cannot register to vote in the United States without a valid Social Security Number.
- For those states that allow online registration, you have to enter your State Issued ID information into the application, along with other identifying demographic information, including your Social Security Number.
- If you are registering at your local Clerk's Office, ie. Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, otherwise known as the DMV, they will require you to produce this same State Issued Identification, along with a copy of your Social Security Card.
- For those of us who have voted in person, you are required to show your State Issued ID along with your Government Issued Voter Registration Card prior to receiving your ballot.
- For those of us who have participated in the mall-in ballot system, you have to confirm your information online, which will populate your State Issued Identification information.
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Why is this an important reminder?
Select members of our government are alleging that non-citizens are fraudulently voting in Federal elections, and that elections are "rigged". The real truth is that the instances of alleged voter fraud that occur in the United States are very rare. The majority of the documented instances of alleged voter fraud is due to clerical errors and bad data.
- See link below to a published article from the Brennan Center for Justice.
According to statistics from the Heritage Foundation, they have found 1,071 cases, citing cases as far back as 1982. The link to the data they shared on their website comes directly from the archives on the White House.gov website.
To put it simply:
Our elections are not rigged by the voters. It has not happened, it will not happen, and on the rare occasions that there has been proven voter fraud, it DOES NOT impact and HAS NOT impacted an election on any level. The majority of the occurrences of proven voter fraud that have taken place were committed by United States Citizens, again, with ZERO impact to any election. All of this is public information.
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The only real threat to our elections are unqualified individuals running for public office and being elected into positions of power, many of whom have proven that they will lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want - MORE POWER.
They lie by saying immigrants are hurting our country. They lie by saying they care about what is best for the American people, all while defunding programs that aid and protect the American people.
They cheat you out of your right to healthcare, higher pay, quality public education - this list is seemingly endless.
They steal your ability to feel as if your vote matters, enter the conversation about redistricting and the dangers it continues to pose throughout the country.
We must protect our democracy, our right to vote, our right to choose, our right to be free people in the United States.
We have the right to free and fair elections in this country. It is a Civil Right, a legal right, and one that we all must continue to fight for.
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https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7300
https://www.usa.gov/who-can-vote
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/docs/pacei-voterfraudcases.pdf