Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a controversial bill requiring all Americans to provide documentation of their citizenship status for both registering and voting.
Although it is aimed at eliminating voter fraud, it should be noted that cases of undocumented residents voting are extremely rare and are already illegal.
Every Republican member of the Colorado delegation voted in favor of the bill, with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Windsor) going further. In her statements in support of the SAVE Act and subsequent appearances on radio programs, Boebert demonstrated a lack of understanding of how the proposed legislation would change existing law and misrepresented Colorado voting laws, claiming that the State of Colorado was registering undocumented residents to vote.
Under the bill, the only valid documents to verify citizenship would be birth certificates, U.S. passports, naturalization paperwork, and enhanced driver’s licenses (a form of ID that is only issued in five states). According to the Brennan Center for Justice, only 9% of American citizens of voting age have a passport or birth certificate readily available.
Critics of the SAVE Act have warned of the potential repercussions it could have for women who have taken their husbands’ last names, given that 79% of women in opposite-sex marriages take their spouses’ surname. Furthermore, the bill’s requirement that documentation would need to be presented in person would effectively eliminate online voter registration, registration by mail, and voter registration drives.
Every Republican voted down an amendment from Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Oregon) that would have guaranteed that eligible women would not be disenfranchised.
On April 8, Boebert spoke in favor of the SAVE Act on the House Floor, saying: “I’ve never had to bring my birth certificate to prove that I was a registered voter. I have an ID that has a different name from my birth certificate.”
The SAVE Act’s provisions would require people to provide either their passport or their birth certificate when registering to vote.
Boebert went on to claim that, “Right now, you can walk up, check a box claiming you’re a citizen and boom, you’re registered for federal elections, no proof, no ID… and in Colorado, it was just expedited for the process for illegals to receive a driver’s license. And in the state of Colorado, when you obtain a driver’s license, you register to vote.”
In Colorado, undocumented residents can apply for a non-Real ID as a form of driver’s license; however, they are not automatically registered to vote as Boebert suggests.
The following day, Boebert appeared on the Ryan Schuilling Show, where she said Colorado repeated that claim, in addition to saying that Democrats were ‘bringing millions of illegal aliens’ into our country.
“We know that there is a lot of fraud that takes place in our elections. We have illegals who are voting here,” Boebert claimed. “That’s why they [Democrats] brought 15 million illegal aliens into our country, and like I said on the floor yesterday, in Colorado, when you get a driver’s license, you are automatically registered to vote. And they just expedited it from two years down to immediate approval for illegal aliens to obtain a driver’s license in Colorado.”
According to a spokesperson for the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, Boebert’s statement is incorrect. Only citizens are registered to vote through Colorado’s Automatic Voter registration process at the DMV.
Numerous studies have been conducted into voter fraud in the US, and all have concluded that it is exceedingly rare, with fewer than 500 potential cases in 2020. Over 98% of them have a driver’s license registered with them.
Boebert seemingly either does not understand existing Colorado voting law or is blatantly misleading the public as to how voter registration works in the state. Numerous news outlets and fact-checking groups have repeatedly debunked her conspiracy theory, also promoted by Trump and Elon Musk, about Democrats orchestrating illegal immigration for political benefit.
Boebert’s office did not respond to our request for comment.
Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado Clerks Association (CCCA), called Boebert’s claim false and a political scare tactic.
“While it is true that Colorado is an affidavit state when it comes to voter registration, it’s not true that we don’t require a form of ID when you register to vote,” Crane said. “Automatic voter registration through the DMV is one of the most effective ways to ensure voting integrity, since you often have to provide residency documents for those types of appointments. In Colorado, 97% of voters have a driver’s license attached to their registration, and 99% have a Social Security number associated with it. This war against automatic voter registration only undermines election integrity.”
