Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

Election officials and voter advocates detail the harmful impacts of Republicans’ SAVE Act and Trump’s anti-voter executive order on the right to vote for millions of American citizens

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, convened a Rules Committee Democrats spotlight hearing titled “Protecting the Future of American Democracy: An Examination of Trump and Partisan Attacks on Voting and Elections.” The forum focused on Congressional Republicans’ Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act that recently passed the House of Representatives and Trump’s illegal anti-voter executive order, both of which threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible American citizens.

Members heard from election officials and voter advocates regarding ongoing attacks on voter registration and election integrity during the forum. The panel included Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan, League of Women Voters CEO Celina Stewart, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) CEO Juan Proaño, and Nicole Meek, an impacted voter as a member of a military family.

“If there’s one thing that we can take away from this hearing — one action item to work towards in order to protect the future of our democracy — it’s that we must stop the SAVE Act. … As we heard today, it’s not only a solution in search of a problem — it would make it harder for tens of millions of eligible Americans to vote in the process,” said Senator Padilla in his closing remarks. “This isn’t the first attack on our democracy that we’ve seen from the Trump White House. And sadly, I predict that it won’t be the last. But my hope is that in the coming months as a committee, we can continue to stand strong in defense of our democracy — whatever it takes.”

This spotlight hearing kicks off a series of Rules Committee Democrats’ forums focused on protecting the future of America’s elections. The series will underscore the dangers of the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attacks on election security, integrity, and funding required to smoothly administer elections and protect American democracy.

Video of Senator Padilla’s first round of questioning is available here, and his second round of questioning is available here.

Senator Padilla’s opening remarks from today’s hearing are available here. His closing remarks are available here.

In addition to Senator Padilla, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) also joined the Senate Democrats’ forum.

Key Excerpts from Witness Statements:

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon:

• This legislation would, if enacted, keep millions of eligible Americans from the polls. It would cost states, counties, and cities untold millions of dollars to implement. And it would impose the risk of criminal prosecution for local election workers left trying to sort out how these new federal requirements impact their responsibilities.

• It would fundamentally change elections administration in this country overnight – since it would take effect immediately upon enactment.

• The stated purpose of the legislation is election security. Election security is vital- and we all agree that only those who are eligible to vote should cast ballots. But the SAVE Act is based on the totally false assumption that huge numbers of non-citizens are voting. There is no evidence of that. In fact, the research shows the opposite is true.

• It’s a challenging time to be in the democracy business. Our democracy is being tested. It has been tested before – and it has held. But continuity and success are not inevitable. They come from hard work and commitment. That is why I am here today.

Read Steve Simon’s opening testimony here.

Dean Logan, Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Los Angeles County:

• Regarding the proposed SAVE Act, the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials recently submitted a letter of concern that focuses on three key impacts – the risk of disenfranchisement, significant unfunded cost increases that would fall to local government, and concerns associated with imposing criminal penalties on officials and community election workers who are simply fulfilling their legal and civic obligations.

• In addition to directives that mirror the provisions of the SAVE act previously discussed, the Order calls for changes or reductions to the delivery of election services, limits options for voter participation, and potentially requires modification or replacement of voting equipment – all without appropriating funding and, in large measure, reducing or eliminating what little federal funding has been available to support local election administration, voting accessibility, and election security.

• Change of this magnitude requires multiple years of planning and careful execution. It would be nearly impossible to complete in the timeframe outlined in the Order without significant risk of administrative error, false positive data matching, and under resourcing other critical elements of election administration and security. Moreover, there is a high likelihood of a resulting drop in voter participation, higher registration data error rates, and non-compliance with conflicting federal and state laws – all at additional public expense.

Read Dean Logan’s opening testimony here.

Celina Stewart, CEO, League of Women Voters:

• As one of the longest-running and largest, nonpartisan, volunteer driven voter registration organizations in the nation, the League of Women Voters strongly opposes attempts to add documentary proof of citizenship to the voter registration process, which is what the recent Executive Order on the “integrity of American Elections” and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act does. The SAVE Act would drastically alter the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) – a landmark piece of legislation the League played a large role in drafting, passing and implementing – by adding provisions that will require that every eligible voter provide documentary proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate, to register to vote, even though voters in every state are already required to affirm or verify their citizenship status when registering and voting.

• Nearly 80% of married women – more than 69 million potentially-eligible women voters – adopt their partner’s surname. It is because of that reality that I would go so far as to say that, in the League’s 105-year history, the SAVE Act may be the most brazen attack on American women’s voting rights that we have ever seen. This bill’s excessive documentation requirements – specifically, the idea that the name on their ID must match the name on a birth certificate or passport – threatens every single one of them and their ability to register to vote. I think anyone, no matter how they lean politically, would agree: This is not how our democracy should work.

• We know that this legislation is based on misinformation and fearmongering rather than facts, as there is no evidence of widespread non-citizen voter registration or voting in state and federal elections. Time and time again, the League has fought similar policies at the federal and state levels through public education, advocacy and litigation.

Read Celina Stewart’s opening testimony here.

Juan Proaño, CEO, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC):

• I appear today to voice our unequivocal opposition to the so-called Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act. This anti-voter bill would make it significantly harder for millions of Americans – especially Latinos, immigrants, Black Americans, and women – to exercise their right to vote. It is a dangerous step backwards for voting rights, that would force every voter to show proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate, every time they register to vote. Most Americans simply do not carry those documents in daily life. In fact, more than 21 million eligible U.S. voters don’t have documents that prove their citizenship readily available.

• From working fathers in Texas to “abuelitas” in California, many Latinos and Americans of all backgrounds would struggle to find and present paperwork that the federal government has never before required. The result? Millions of citizens could be disenfranchised – kept from making their voices heard – by an unnecessary bureaucratic barrier.

• Let me be clear: the SAVE Act is solving a problem that simply does not exist. Noncitizen voting is already illegal in this country – and it is virtually nonexistent. You’re more likely to be struck by lightning. That’s why we call it “La Gran Mentira”–the big lie. As a Latino leader, I see clearly that this bill trades on a fear of a fully inclusive, multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy, echoing the country’s ugly past of voter suppression. To conclude: this bill will undermine the right to vote–which is the crown jewel of our democracy. As a proud Latino and the son of immigrants, I take this personally.

Read Juan Proaño’s opening testimony here.

Nicole Meek, Impacted Voter

• I don’t have the same option that my family and friends have to walk into their local polling station and cast a ballot on election day. … As a military voter, I have to plan months in advance. This isn’t just inconvenient. It puts military voters at a real disadvantage.

• So, it may come as no surprise that in 2020 (the last presidential election for which the Federal Voting Assistance Program – FVAP – has reported data to congress), military voters were 27% less likely to have voted than their civilian counterparts. According to FVAP, when a military voter tries to vote but is ultimately unsuccessful, the most common reason is because their ballot arrives past the deadline.

• The SAVE Act and the March 25th Executive Order would threaten to make things significantly worse. If implemented, these policies would disenfranchise countless service members and military-connected voters—including families like mine.

• We ask our service members to sacrifice everything in defense of our democracy. We should also ensure they – and their families – can participate in it. Voting is not a privilege. It is a right. And no one should lose the right to vote because of where their country sends them. We should be working to make voting more accessible, not less. We should be honoring the sacrifice of our military families by making sure their ballots count.

Read Nicole Meek’s opening testimony here.

A supplemental statement from LULAC is available here. A supplemental statement from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is available here.

Senator Padilla has led the charge opposing President Trump and Republicans’ reckless attempts to restrict the right to vote. As President Trump marked 100 disastrous days in office, he recently led his Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor to speak out against the SAVE Act and attacks on election integrity. Last month, Padilla warned Secretaries of State, Lieutenant Governors, and Chief Election Officials across the country of the devastating potential impacts of Republicans’ SAVE Act, concerns that have been echoed by top election officials across the country. He also led a letter yesterday sounding the alarm on the devastating impacts of Trump’s anti-voter “election integrity” executive order and the SAVE Act on Native American voting rights.

Additionally, Padilla led 11 Senators in introducing the Defending America’s Future Elections Act to repeal Trump’s illegal anti-voter executive order and prevent the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive voter registration data and state records. Padilla previously led 14 Democratic Senators in calling on Trump to revoke his illegal anti-voter executive order and issued a statement slamming the order when it was announced.