Wyden Sounds Alarm on Harmful Impacts of SAVE Act, Trump’s Anti-Voter Executive Order, in Native Communities
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said today he has written the Trump administration about the challenges Native communities will face under Trump’s “election integrity” executive order and the SAVE Act, including requirements documenting proof of citizenship and restricting mail-in voting.
The SAVE Act passed by the Republican-controlled House and Trump’s executive order would require Native Americans to use a government issued state ID to register to vote instead of their Tribal IDs which are currently accepted in nearly every state and have been for decades. The SAVE Act also has an in-person requirement for voter-registration that would force Tribal voters in rural areas to travel significant distances to prove their citizenship and register to vote.
“Enactment of new voter registration policies under the Executive Order and the SAVE Act would lead to mass disenfranchisement of eligible Native voters and further depress the Native vote,” Wyden and colleagues wrote Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “Tribal IDs generally lack place of birth information required by the legislation, and the vast majority of these IDs lack the specific U.S. citizenship documentation required by the Executive Order. And the SAVE Act’s in-person requirement would exacerbate existing barriers, such as requiring IDs that list residential mailing addresses, by forcing many Native voters to travel great distances, including costly flights or multi-hour drives, to reach their local elections office or polling place.”
Wyden and his colleagues also highlighted that the vote-by-mail restrictions would disproportionately hurt Native Americans who rely on mail-in voting because of their lack of transportation and rural locations. Trump’s executive order penalizes states that accept absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day, harming Native voters in Oregon, especially as the State processes ballots for days as long as they were postmarked by Election day.
“As Secretary of the Interior, you have a special moral and legal responsibility to uphold our nation’s trust and treaty obligations,” continued the senators. “If implemented, the sweeping federal mandates included in the Executive Order and the SAVE Act would disenfranchise eligible Native voters who are following state laws. We encourage your active engagement with the White House and the Department of Justice to ensure that Native communities are able to exercise the franchise fully and have their voices heard at the ballot box.”
In addition to Wyden, the letter was also led by U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawai’i, and signed by U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai’i, Tim Kaine, D-Va., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Text of the letter is here.
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