Students Against Voter Suppression was a left-of-center organization that urged greater federal government oversight of and involvement elections. The organization claimed that increased federal government involvement in elections was necessary to prevent voter disenfranchisement, particularly that of high school and college students. ¹

The organization was a supporter of the “For The People Act,” legislation that would enable the federal government to take over election administration. It was a part of the Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-of-center organizations that advocate a federal takeover of elections. ²

Overview

Students Against Voter Suppression was a left-of-center organization that urged greater federal government involvement in elections. It was also opposed to voter integrity laws such as voter identification requirements. ³

The organization was founded in August 2020 to encourage students to advocate for a federal takeover of election administration and to urge weakening voter integrity protections. The organization believed that there was a widespread attempt to disenfranchise voters, citing everything from limited polling locations to voter identification laws as evidence. ⁴

As of September 2021, Students Against Voter Suppression was organizing in 14 states and in Washington, D.C. ⁵ Among the states where it was organizing was in California and in North Carolina. ⁶

In California, the state branch and the national organization campaigned against what it called false ballot boxes. The organization believed that those false ballot boxes diverted the mail-in votes. ⁷

In the 2020 presidential election, the organization recruited students to serve as poll workers. The students were used as replacement poll workers as older poll workers who normally work the election sites were sidelined by COVID-19. ⁸

By January 2022, the group’s website had been pulled offline. ⁹ Its final activity was an appeal on Facebook to U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) to repeal the U.S. Senate’s supermajority requirement to end debate known as the filibuster to enact a federal takeover of election administration. ¹⁰

Issues

Students Against Voter Suppression supported various versions of the “For The People Act.” The legislation would allow a federal takeover of election administration and would weaken various voter integrity policies such as voter identification laws. ¹¹

The organization was also an advocate of restricting campaign and election related speech. It criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision, which forbid the federal government from banning a documentary that criticized Hillary Clinton from airing during a period preceding a primary election. ¹²

In August 2021, the organization opposed the recall of California Governor Gavin Newsom (D). The organization even went so far to say the recall was unconstitutional because there was a scenario where the votes to keep Newsom in office would get more votes than any of his potential opponents. ¹³

The organization also urged the creation of more districts that favor Democrats in the redistricting after the 2020 Census. It claimed that this was necessary because the population was more diverse and resided more in urban and suburban areas. ¹⁴

1. Muir, Sarah. “New Youth-Led Organization Fighting Voter Suppression in NC.” The Green and White. March 14, 2021. https://newspaper.sites.da.org/2021/03/16/new-youth-led-organization-fighting-voter-suppression-in-nc/.
2. “A Coalition of 240+ Member Organizations Working Together to Make the Promise of Democracy Real for All of Us.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed March 5, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/.
3. Muir, Sarah. “New Youth-Led Organization Fighting Voter Suppression in NC.” The Green and White. March 14, 2021. https://newspaper.sites.da.org/2021/03/16/new-youth-led-organization-fighting-voter-suppression-in-nc/.
4. Muir, Sarah. “New Youth-Led Organization Fighting Voter Suppression in NC.” The Green and White. March 14, 2021. https://newspaper.sites.da.org/2021/03/16/new-youth-led-organization-fighting-voter-suppression-in-nc/.
5. “About Us: Students Against Voter Suppression.” SAVS USA. Accessed March 5, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20211018100427/https://www.savsusa.org/about-us.
6. Muir, Sarah. “New Youth-Led Organization Fighting Voter Suppression in NC.” The Green and White. March 14, 2021. https://newspaper.sites.da.org/2021/03/16/new-youth-led-organization-fighting-voter-suppression-in-nc/.
7. Muir, Sarah. “New Youth-Led Organization Fighting Voter Suppression in NC.” The Green and White. March 14, 2021. https://newspaper.sites.da.org/2021/03/16/new-youth-led-organization-fighting-voter-suppression-in-nc/.
8. Muir, Sarah. “New Youth-Led Organization Fighting Voter Suppression in NC.” The Green and White. March 14, 2021. https://newspaper.sites.da.org/2021/03/16/new-youth-led-organization-fighting-voter-suppression-in-nc/.
9. “Website Not Online.” Internet Archive. January 19, 2022.
10. “Students Against Voter Suppression.” Facebook. February 1, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/savs.usa/posts/pfbid02nGQtTNMn9Ag9UNQvLYuwBrLnjc9R8mGenipw8JJ8jrmX72xxZid8AMfo7H6p7NHVl.
11. Muir, Sarah. “New Youth-Led Organization Fighting Voter Suppression in NC.” The Green and White. March 14, 2021. https://newspaper.sites.da.org/2021/03/16/new-youth-led-organization-fighting-voter-suppression-in-nc/
12. “Students Against Voter Suppression.” Facebook. November 18, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/savs.usa/posts/pfbid02Ang9eheFoXcsUbF6EGpjAqpjRcRSGJchr3DPMyJXKnTRUst6MDDJ1fQUMJwNTSMTl.
13. “Students Against Voter Suppression.” Facebook. August 24, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/savs.usa/posts/pfbid0NmgziwKFDX7Jw67k7ZLqC8AFkYWa5iVk7vEa2qbzRnKsX4oSLhGPVJiFbkiDzqiNl.
14. “Students Against Voter Suppression.” Facebook. August 16, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/savs.usa/posts/pfbid02kYp7LY3KU8PgeTxrUkG4oXijxMBJeKQ2dNu1ZnvzpxUSLpez6xYi2Qty1CYLc3Xjl.