Congressman Goldman Joins New York Voting Rights Groups to Condemn Republican Voter Suppression Bill and Demand Senate Reject It

 

 

New York, NY – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) today joined Let NY Vote Coalition, Common Cause New York, and other voting rights and advocacy organizations to condemn the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which seeks to disenfranchise and suppress legal, eligible voters nationwide by reversing key election reforms and making it significantly harder for Americans to register and cast their ballots. Passed in the GOP-led House, the legislation has not yet been brought to the floor of the Senate.

 

"“The SAVE Act is yet another attempt by Donald Trump and the complicit GOP to erode the foundations of American democracy by undermining its most essential pillar: the right to vote,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “This bill threatens same-day registration, early voting, and automatic voter registration in a deliberate effort to disenfranchise millions of legal American voters, making it as difficult as possible for many to cast their ballots. The SAVE Act doesn’t solve any real issues—it was crafted to intensify the challenges that women, servicemembers, and rural Americans already face at the polls. If passed, it would undo decades of hard-fought voting reform in New York and across the country. Every senator who believes in the sanctity of democracy and the importance of the vote must unequivocally reject this bill.”
 

Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause New York, said “Congress should be working to make voting easier, not harder. In New York, the Let NY Vote Coalition has worked closely with the Governor and the Legislature to improve access to the ballot for New York voters. The so-called SAVE Act would reverse the progress New York has made modernizing its elections and making its election administration more voter-centered, potentially preventing countless eligible New York voters across the state from making their voices heard. This destructive bill claims to address a non-existent problem. We urge the Senate to reject this shameless voter suppression bill, and to oppose any future version that makes registering to vote needlessly difficult for everyday people.” 

 

Brianna Cea, Executive Director and Founder of Generation Vote, said, “This past month, 220 members of Congress voted to silence a generation. The so-called SAVE Act targets students, trans youth and working-class voters, and threatens to upend how young people participate in our democracy. By requiring eligible young voters to show proof-of-citizenship documents in person, it would block millions of young people from registering to vote—especially those who rely on online, mail, and

campus voter registration drives. GenVoters across the country have been organizing to

stop this dangerous anti-voter bill, and we demand the Senate stop it in its tracks."

 

Sean Eldridge, Founder and President of Stand Up America, said, “We know that the SAVE Act would prevent millions of eligible citizens from accessing the ballot box. This isn’t hypothetical or hyperbole. When Kasas enacted a similar bill a decade ago, over 31,000 American citizens were blocked from voting. And despite that, not one Republican in the House of Representatives had the courage to vote no and protect our freedom to vote. Shame on them. In the United States of America, voters should pick their leaders. Politicians should not get to pick their voters.”

 

Ann Toback, CEO of Workers Circle, said, “The SAVE Act is a federal voter suppression bill plain and simple. Republican leaders in Congress are trying to undermine tens of millions of Americans’ freedom to vote because they know the vast majority of voters are not behind their regressive agenda. We’ll not rest until this bill is defeated in the Senate.”

 

Jan Combopiano, Executive Committee member of Brooklyn Voters Alliance, said, “There literally is no proof that there is widespread noncitizen voting happening in this country, but there is proof that many Americans do not have the documents to confirm their citizenship, so the SAVE Act is a solution without solving a problem. This is

election integrity theater, rather than the safeguarding of the right to vote.”

 

Erica Smitka, Executive Director, League of Women Voters of New York State, said, “The SAVE Act is driven by misinformation and fear rather than facts. There is no credible evidence of widespread non-citizen voter registration or voting in state or federal elections. The League of Women Voters of New York State firmly opposes this bill as it advances to the Senate. We applaud Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand for rejecting this harmful legislation and urge them to reject any future iterations that would allow for the requirement of a passport or birth certificate to vote.”

 

Karla Bradley, Executive Director, New York Civic Engagement Table, said, "Our democracy cannot work when only a small portion of the population is making decisions that impact the whole. The SAVE Act is a dangerous bill that would disenfranchise New Yorkers, disproportionately impacting BIPOC, transgender, working class, and rural voters – communities who already face systemic barriers to participating in our elections. It is critical that New York stand strong against this anti-voter bill and ensure that the voices and votes of all voters are heard in our elections.”

 

John Park, Executive Director, MinKwon Center for Community Action (Convenor of APA VOICE), said, “The SAVE Act is a direct attack on our democracy and on our fundamental right to vote—especially for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and other communities of color. It imposes costly and unnecessary documentation requirements, like passports or birth certificates. This bill would disenfranchise married women, trans people, active-duty service \ members, and millions of eligible voters whose lives don’t fit neatly into bureaucratic boxes. Instead of protecting our elections, the SAVE Act silences voices. This bill is voter suppression wrapped in red tape. Our communities deserve access, not exclusion.”

 

Jarret Berg, Co-Founder of Vote Early New York, said, “The SAVE act would undermine America’s modern voter registration system, raising unnecessary barriers to online registration and registration-by-mail that are likely to prevent large swaths of eligible citizens from participating in future elections. At the same time, this unjustifiable solution-in-search-of-a-problem would curb most local voter registration drives. The Senate and the American people must reject this assault on democracy.”

 

Mae Lee, Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association, said, "Community based organizations like ours often conduct voter registration drives in the community. We bring registration to the people where they are. We reach young people who have just turned eighteen or newly minted citizens. Our community members work and/or go to school. They would not be able to go to a board of elections office during when they are working or going to school. The requirements as outlined in the SAVE Act would restrict our community's access to voter registration, making us unable to vote and have a say in who represents us.”

 

Karen Wharton, Democracy Coalition Coordinator, Citizen Action of NY, said, “The SAVE Act is a solution in search of a problem being pushed by MAGA extremists in Congress. It’s not about protecting our democracy—it’s about undermining it. This bill would strip away the rights of eligible voters, especially women, people with disabilities, and communities that have long been marginalized, all while addressing a problem that doesn’t exist. There’s no real evidence of non-citizen voting. What this bill really does is create unnecessary barriers to silence voices. We should be making it easier—not harder—for people to participate in our democracy. We must reject it.”

 

Congressman Goldman has made strengthening and improving voting rights, and ballot box access a cornerstone of his time in office. 

 

In February, 2023, Congressman Goldman announced the Early Voting Act as his first bill in Congress, which would require at least a 14-day window of in-person early voting for federal elections across the country. The bill would also require that election officials maximize polling place accessibility and would take steps to address unacceptably long wait-times for voters in line to cast their ballots and for election results by mandating that election officials start processing and scanning ballots at least 14 days prior to Election Day

 

In March of 2025, Congressman Goldman joined Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-07) in introducing the ‘John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,’ which would restore and modernize the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) to address modern-day voter suppression and ensure every voter, regardless of race or background, has equal access to the ballot box.   

 

Congressman Goldman is a member of the Voter Rights Caucus.