NILES — Community members gathered in downtown Niles Monday afternoon to protest against a bill that critics say would create unnecessary barriers to voting.

35 people gathered outside Rep. Tim Walberg’s office in Niles demanding the congressman to do more to take a stand against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE Act. The demonstration comes on the heels of the group’s protest of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency last week.

The bill would “amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.” The bill does not elaborate on the definition of “other purposes.”

The bill – also known as H.R. 22 – would also require proof of U.S. citizenship for “any method of voter registration in a State,” meaning documentation may be necessary to make modifications such as address or name changes.

The documentation requirement would apply to all registration methods, including mail-in forms and updates made at state departments of motor vehicles. 

If enacted, demonstrators in attendance Monday believe the SAVE Act would disenfranchise millions of U.S. citizens who don’t have proof of citizenship readily available. The SAVE Act could make it difficult for married women, as well as others in the population, to exercise their right to vote if their married name does not match their birth certificate name.

“This actually does restrict a lot of voting, especially absentee voting, which I love because I can sit down at my kitchen table and actually read the proposals, see what they actually say, look up those people that are running for office that perhaps I’ve been unfamiliar with, especially like the judges, the school boards, that kind of thing,” said Karen Kemp, who attended Monday’s demonstration. “I can call a neighbor and say ‘do you know what this proposal says’ and stuff. The documentation being more strict is very difficult for a lot of people to get and there’s probably not a lot of married women in this country whose birth certificate and driver’s license name match. It has a lot of things in there that keep those of us who are legal voters from voting.

While proponents of the bill believe it will protect the integrity of future US elections, Kemp believes the effort will suppress voters.

“There’s no reason to have it,” she said. “It’s to stop a problem that does not exist. It’s just to make you angry about something that there’s no reason to be angry about.”

A letter written on behalf of concerned Congressional District 5 Constituents was sent to Walberg’s office.

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