By Julie Archer, WV CAG Deputy Director
Republicans at All Levels of Government Are Making It Harder to Vote
On Friday, March 28, the House of Delegates passed a bill that threatens voting access for many eligible West Virginians — especially seniors, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and those living in rural areas. HB 3016 eliminates non-photo voter ID options and requires all West Virginians to present a photo ID to vote, ignoring a critical reality: many West Virginians do not have — and cannot easily obtain — the documents needed to get a photo ID. The bill passed the House 84 to 8 and is now pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Read our full statement on HB 3016 here.)
As West Virginia Watch reported, the bill is one of several Republican-backed bills this session with the support of Secretary of State Kris Warner that will make it harder for West Virginians to vote. Earlier in the session, the House also passed a bill to make absentee ballots more difficult to obtain by criminalizing the distribution of absentee ballot applications and shortening the time mail-in ballots will be accepted. That bill, HB 2117, is pending in the Senate Government Organization Committee.
Unfortunately, the attacks on the freedom to vote do not stop there. A bill before Congress could prevent millions of American citizens from casting ballots by requiring them to produce a passport or birth certificate to vote. An October 2023 survey by the Brennan Center for Justice found that over 21 million American citizens of voting age — more than 9 percent — do not have easy access to these documents. But as the Center’s CEO Michael Waldman writes, “[it’s] worse than that. Tens of millions of married women have changed their last names, so the names on their birth certificates don’t match their current legal names.”
Call your member of Congress today and urge them to Vote NO on the SAVE Act.
Dial 833-346-1779 to get connected to their office directly.
According to the Brennan Center, if the SAVE Act becomes law, it would be the worst voting bill ever
to pass Congress. It echoes an executive order issued on March 25 by President Trump that purported to take over the election system in the United States by presidential edict. An illegal order that has been challenged by a coalition of voting rights groups, and praised by Secretary of State Warner. Warner said the access West Virginia will receive to federal records to confirm citizenship and the ability of federal law enforcement to accept criminal referrals from states was necessary “to prevent foreign nationals from influencing elections and prosecuting bad actors who attempt to cheat.”
A press release from Warner’s office applauding the order included a picture of him holding a photoshopped West Virginia driver’s license showing Vladimir Putin. Nobody has suggested, and there’s no reason to believe, that Putin tried to vote in an American election. He did, though, provide vast in-kind contributions, and for all we know, dark money contributions, to a campaign that Kris Warner himself supported. It’s rich that Kris Warner is going to extremes to outlaw something illegal that didn’t happen—while casually siding with a convicted felon who actually benefited from illegal campaign activities.
Requiring proof of citizenship to vote has already been tried with disastrous results. According to the Associated Press, “Kansas imposed a proof-of-citizenship requirement over a decade ago that grew into one of the biggest political fiascos in the state in recent memory.”
“The law, passed by the state Legislature in 2011 and implemented two years later, ended up blocking the voter registrations of more than 31,000 U.S. citizens who were otherwise eligible to vote,” the AP reported. “That was 12% of everyone seeking to register in Kansas for the first time. Federal courts ultimately declared the law an unconstitutional burden on voting rights, and it hasn’t been enforced since 2018.”
It’s already illegal for non-citizens to cast a ballot in state and federal elections, and those who violate the law face severe penalties. To even register to vote, you must swear you’re a citizen under penalty of criminal prosecution. Under federal law, a non-citizen could face up to five years in prison simply for registering to vote. It’s also a deportable offense for non-citizens to register or vote.
The SAVE Act and Trump’s executive order aren’t about protecting elections, nor are HB 3016 and HB 2117. They’re about creating unnecessary barriers that silence voters and weaken our democracy.
Our democracy is strongest when everyone has equal access to the ballot box. By speaking up, you can help ensure voting rights are protected for all.