PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is calling on U.S. House leaders to strike down a bill that could reshape elections across the United States.

In a letter sent Monday to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Rayfield and a coalition of 17 other attorneys general called on the House leaders to oppose H.R. 22, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

The bill has several provisions, including a requirement for eligible voters to show documented proof of citizenship to register to vote.

However, the coalition of attorneys general argues that the bill creates hurdles for people who do not have easy access to documents proving their citizenship and could make it difficult for millions of Americans to vote.

DON'T MISS: Trump executive order will make Oregon elections ‘less safe,’ Secretary of State says

“This law just makes it harder for people to vote,” Attorney General Rayfield said. “We can protect the integrity of our elections while still making sure that every legitimate voter has an equal opportunity to cast their ballot without obstacles or discrimination.”

The SAVE Act was introduced in January by Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) who says the legislation is necessary to protect against ineligible voters from participating in U.S. elections.

“American elections belong to American citizens, and the public's confidence in those elections is the cornerstone of our republic," Congressman Roy previously said. "We in Congress have a duty to our fellow citizens to provide that confidence and put concrete enforcement in place to ensure that our elections and our sovereignty cannot be hijacked and influenced by foreign nationals who have no business voting in this country. That's why I am proud to reintroduce the SAVE Act with my friends Senator Mike Lee and Representative Andrew Garbarino. The House passed this critical bipartisan bill last year - I look forward to working with the Republican Senate to put this policy on President Trump's desk.”

If passed, the act would amend the National Voter Registrations Act to require voters to provide proof of citizenship before registering to vote.

Arguing against the bill, the attorneys general wrote, "The legislation purports to protect federal elections from non-citizen voters by imposing burdensome proof of citizenship requirements. Congressman Chip Roy, the sponsor of the Bill, asserts that the legislation is necessary because of the risk that millions of non-citizens may have access to the ballot box. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the SAVE Act is an oppressive solution in search of a problem that would directly disenfranchise eligible voters who reside in our states."

In their letter, the attorneys general said cases of non-citizen voting in the U.S. are "extremely rare," pointing to several studies and an audit of Georgia's voting rolls by the Secretary of State's office, which found 20 non-citizens registered to vote out of 8.2 million residents and nine of the 20 non-citizens had a record of voting, as reported by The Associated Press.

According to the attorneys general, the bill would also require expensive documentation, such as passports or birth certificates to match voters' current names – which could be difficult for some, including married women, whose legal name no longer matches the name on their birth certificate.

“Over 21 million voting-age citizens do not have ready access to a passport, birth record, or naturalization record,” the coalition wrote. “And 80% of married women would not have a valid birth certificate under the SAVE Act because those women chose to adopt their partner's last name.” 

The bill also mandates in-person presentation of the citizenship documents, which effectively eliminates online voter registration systems, which is available in 42 states, the attorneys general argue, noting this could also disenfranchise active-duty service members who cannot return to their local election offices.

The attorneys general furthered that the bill would create substantial administrative and financial burdens for states by requiring new voter registration procedures, new systems for document verification and criminalizing mistakes made by election officials with penalties of up to five years in prison.

Other attorneys general signing the letter include the attorneys general of Maryland, Illinois, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai’i, Vermont, District of Columbia, California, Maine, Washington, New Jersey and Michigan. 

On Tuesday, Democratic Oregon Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (OR-03) introduced an amendment to the SAVE Act which would have required state-level certification that the law’s new requirements would not prevent eligible married women from casting their ballots.

During a vote on Tuesday, House Republicans voted down Dexter’s amendment, along with seven additional amendments introduced by the congresswoman, which she said would have required states to ensure the SAVE Act did not disenfranchise members of the military, people of color, native communities, survivors of domestic violence, seniors, people with disabilities and rural residents.

“The SAVE Act isn’t about preventing fraud, it’s about preventing participation in our elections,” Dexter said. “That’s why I demanded that House Republicans adopt my amendment to give assurances that married women who change their last name will not be shut out of the ballot box. This amendment isn’t a theoretical, it’s about the married woman in Hood River whose documents don’t match after changing her name. It’s about making sure our democracy includes all of us. And House Republicans voted it down.”   

On Tuesday, House Republican leaders canceled votes for the rest of the week after a small group of Republicans "staged a rebellion on the floor, bringing legislative action to a screeching halt," The Hill reports.

This blocked several planned votes for the week, including a vote on the SAVE Act; however, the bill can still be voted on later this session.