What is a Documentary Proof of Citizenship Requirement to Register to Vote?
Documentary proof of citizenship bills propose that before otherwise-eligible citizens can register to vote, they must provide paperwork in addition to their voter registration form showing that the person is a U.S. citizen. For most people, that would mean providing a passport or a birth certificate to register.
Voters currently register in almost every state by simply swearing or affirming in writing under penalty of perjury that the person is a citizen.
When Kansas and Arizona implemented documentary proof requirements, they blocked tens of thousands of eligible American citizens from registering.
Recent studies show that around ten percentof voting-eligible Americans—millions of citizens—do not have documents to prove their citizenship. If people cannot vote unless they show hard-to-get and expensive documents in order to register, it makes it harder for citizens to vote.
Those citizens are more likely to be low income people, women, and from communities of color, but include Americans across all political parties and demographic groups.
Women who have changed their name when getting married are less likely to have updated documentary proof.
These paperwork requirements shut down online voter registration and make mail registration much harder, because even when people have the documents they need, they often can’t access copiers or ways to submit them electronically.
This policy shuts down most community-based voter registration programs, which help voters at shopping centers, churches, campuses, and other public places where people aren’t likely to have a birth certificate or passport with them, even if they have them at home.
Why We Don’t Need Documentary Proof of Citizenship to Have Fair Elections
Excluding eligible citizens from voting because they don’t have the listed paperwork makes our elections less fair.
Voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is incredibly rare, and when it happens it is often a mistake. The extremely harsh consequences of deportation and prison time for noncitizens are enough to make sure that only citizens are voting in state and federal elections.
