Under President Trump’s proposed SAVE American Act, American citizens would have to prove their citizenship before they cast a vote. Currently and for decades, prospective voters have been required to show identification, proof of residence and attest to the fact that they are a citizen when they register to vote.
The attempt to add an additional hurdle to participation in the electoral process is based on the unfounded and nativist belief that large numbers of noncitizens are illegally voting and swinging American elections, a belief that has been consistently proven to be untrue.
Taking a deeper dive into the logistics of proving your citizenship reveals that it’s not that easy. The result of the adoption of the SAVE American Act would be that a lot of people, Black and White, Democrat and Republican, may be unable to vote because of the cost of proving their citizenship or because they lack the skills or desire to jump through the bureaucratic hoops of proving their citizenship.
According to U.S. government records, approximately 50 % of Americans have a passport, which is the primary document that most people use to prove their citizenship. The cost of a United States passport is $130, with a $35 fee for first-time applicants and a total cost of $165 if you get the passport and passport card. Renewal of an existing passport is $130. You must also add to that the cost of a photo, which is around $10-$15. There is an additional $60 fee if you need to expedite your application and the mailing of the application.
Passports can be renewed online, but that requires a computer or access to a computer and sufficient computer skills to complete the task.
To get a passport, you also need a birth certificate. Depending on where you were born, a birth certificate typically costs between $20 and $30, sometimes more. If you were born in Cleveland, you can go to City Hall, pay $25, and receive a certified copy. That requires getting to City Hall and paying for parking, and/or taking public transportation, or applying by mail. Applying by mail may seem easy, but it can be difficult for people without computer access to obtain the application form, especially older adults and those with limited reading skills. And if you do not have a checking account or credit card, you must also pay for a money order.
If you were born in another state, it may take a little more effort to get your birth certificate. Some states require additional information to get a birth certificate. The bottom line is that it can be an arduous task.
If you are a woman who has married and changed your name, you will need a copy of your marriage certificate to prove your name change, and if divorced and remarried with a different name, you will need a copy of your divorce decree or decrees, which cost $1.50 a page in Cuyahoga County. That will require a trip to the Justice Center, if you were divorced in Cuyahoga County or to whatever court that granted your divorce. Which means once again parking and/or public transportation. And if these legal proceedings occurred in another county or state, it could be difficult.
If for some reason you do not have a birth certificate, you will be required to go through the process which is called Delayed Registration of Birth, which is a process through the Probate Court. You must produce documents like school records, Social Security records, family bibles or the like that show you were born on a given date. This proceeding will require the production of a lot of documents and possibly a lawyer.
And if your parents thought they were being very clever and gave you a cutesy name with a unique spelling, you could face additional hurdles. If one clerk somewhere along the way did not spell your name the same way it is on your birth certificate on an official record, you may have to jump through some hurdles to prove you are the same person. One person I know had to get a legal name change to correct the record.
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1964, outlaws poll taxes that required the payment of fees to vote. Paying $200 or some to get a passport or other costs and fees to prove your citizenship seems like a poll tax to me.
We all know the old saying: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Our election system is not broken. Incidents of voter fraud nationwide are extremely rare. Contrary to what the President said in Thursday night’s speech, the number of noncitizens who voted or attempted to vote in the last presidential election is miniscule — numbers that are so small that they could hardly change the result of the election.
What proponents of this move fail to understand is that this requirement cuts both ways. Just as many Republicans will be unable to jump though these new hurdle as Democrats. Likewise, just as many Blacks as Whites. It will hit hardest in poor and rural communities. Communities with low literacy rates and an inability or desire to navigate the bureaucratic red tape to get the documents to prove their birth will suffer.
The result may be that only better educated citizens — like the 50% that already have passports may be the only persons who go to the polls. That would bring up back to the early days of America when only White, male landowners could vote. A great way to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she is a former member of the Board of the Ohio History Connection, and past president of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table, and is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.