Heads up, American women. They are trying to take our vote.
The bill H.R.22 has been introduced and it is currently being fast-tracked. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act will require you to register in person from now on and with proof of citizenship documentation. You will now be required to provide your Driver's License and your Passport or Birth Certificate. The gotcha here is that you cannot register to vote if the documentation doesn't match- so, for example, if your birth certificate has your maiden name but your driver's license shows a married name, you'll not be able to register to vote without jumping through additional hoops (as to be determined by each state).
This will add significant barriers to voting for women, especially married women, poor women, rural women, disabled women and WOC, as updating/acquiring this type of paperwork costs money and time and is more accessible in some areas than others. They are using anti-immigration sentiments as a smokescreen for this legislation. Make no mistake, the only people who will be affected by this are American citizens. Non-citizens can't vote anyway. This only affects people who were able to vote before.
The main barriers here that will primarily affect women, especially already marginalized women:
Name matching: women who are married/divorced or who have changed their name for any reason
In-person meeting: Poor people, elderly, disabled, rural, isolated/abused women
Requiring Driver's License: Poor people, elderly, disabled
In general, requiring poll workers/DMV staff to check extra documents on or before election day will have a significant impact on poor and marginalized communities that are understaffed/under-resourced to fulfill these requests.
TDLR; the gov is attempting to make it significantly more difficult to vote if you are not a rich, white male. Bill H.R.22 will add significant barriers to voting for women, especially marginalized women. Please contact your House Representative and tell them that this bill cannot pass.
