McClellan defends Democrats’ opposition to SAVE Act, calls it a ‘modern poll tax’

Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) defended Democrats’ opposition to the SAVE Act, calling it a “modern poll tax,” in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”

“The devil in that bill is in the details, and the SAVE Act puts barriers on American citizens voting, and actually is a modern poll tax,” she told host Chris Stirewalt on Sunday.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has remained adamant in his support for pairing a continuing resolution with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to fund the government.

Democrats and the White House have said they will block the legislation, noting that noncitizen voting is already illegal and exceedingly rare and that the bill could unduly burden eligible voters.

McClellan noted that the only methods to prove citizenship, under the SAVE Act, “just happen to be the ones that cost money.”

“You won't be able to use your state driver's license,” she said, adding that the easiest option “you could use is a passport. It costs money. A lot of Americans don't have passports.”

McClellan further noted that it can be difficult for some people to obtain their birth certificates, which can be necessary to prove citizenship, and those who have changed their names – for marriage or other reasons – often struggle to “reconcile that in order to prove their citizenship.”

McClellan said the issue is personal, invoking her family's history with the poll tax.

“Look, I took my oath of office on the Bible in which my father kept his poll tax receipt,” she said. “I am not voting for a modern poll tax just so that they can say they've done something to keep noncitizen voters from doing something that is already illegal, punishable by up to five years in federal prison, and that there's very little evidence, is a widespread problem.”

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