Press Release
Coalition Urges Sens. Reed, Whitehouse to Oppose Anti-Voter SAVE Act
The Rhode Island Voting Access Coalition and partners call on Sens. Reed and Whitehouse to oppose the anti-voter SAVE Act.
Providence – This week, the Rhode Island Voting Access Coalition (RIVAC) and partners sent a letter to Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) urging them to oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act when it comes before the U.S. Senate. Yesterday, Senator Reed took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to speak against the legislation.
“The SAVE Act would disenfranchise thousands of Rhode Island citizens, including married women and rural voters, by creating unnecessary obstacles to register to vote,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “We are grateful that Senator Reed is taking action to highlight the threats to voting rights it poses, and urge him and Senator Whitehouse to use all the procedural tools at their disposal to oppose this legislation which infringes upon our freedom to vote.”
Under the SAVE Act, Rhode Islanders would no longer be able to register online with their regular driver’s license. Married women who have changed their name will be particularly burdened because even their original birth certificate may not be enough documentary proof to register to vote.
The RIVAC has led the movement to modernize elections in Rhode Island the last decade, including successful efforts to adopt online voter registration in 2016 and automatic voter registration in 2017.
“The SAVE Act is a thinly veiled attempt to suppress voters under the guise of election integrity, disproportionately harming women—especially married women who’ve changed their names—and transgender voters. At the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, we believe in removing barriers to the ballot box, not creating new ones that silence already marginalized voices,” said Kelly Nevins, chief executive officer of Women’s Fund of Rhode Island. “We thank Senator Reed for his zealous opposition to this legislation.”
RIVAC signatories on the letter (listed alphabetically):
- ACLU of Rhode Island
- ARISE
- Better Elections Rhode Island
- Brown Votes
- Clean Water Action Rhode Island
- Climate Action Rhode Island
- Common Cause Rhode Island
- Housing Network of Rhode Island
- Jim Vincent, Civil Rights Advocate Latino Policy Institute
- League of Women Voters of Rhode Island
- Ocean State Ranked Choice Voting
- Providence Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
- Rhode Island AFL-CIO
- Rhode Island Coalition of Black Women
- Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights
- Rhode Island Democratic Women’s Caucus
- Rhode Island KIDS COUNT
- Rhode Island NOW
- Rhode Island Working Families Power
- SEIU 1199NE
- The Womxn Project
- Women’s Fund of Rhode Island
Other signatory organizations (listed alphabetically):
- HERspace
- Judith Kaye Training & Consulting
- Nora’s Haven
- RI Poor People’s Campaign
- The Persisters
- Toward an Anti-Racist North Kingstown
View the letter here.
Learn how the SAVE Act will make it harder to vote here.
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