SAVE ACT: Suppresses the vote of women

Sen. Crapo has co-sponsored a bill making it harder for married women to vote. He claims this new law is to affirm that only citizens can vote in federal elections. There are some non-citizens holding green cards and working in the U.S. who are allowed to vote in certain city and some state elections but they are already barred from federal elections, making this new law extraneous.

The Save Act requires either a passport or both a photo ID AND a birth certificate with MATCHING LAST NAME to register, which most married women don’t have. There’s a provision in the bill making registration available when your last name is different from your photo ID: every state is directed to establish a process in which voters can provide ADDITIONAL documentation allowing them to register if their last name has changed.

This is not only a vote suppression bill but is also discriminatory because it applies almost exclusively to married women. How many women will be affected when they don’t have the correct documents after taking time out of their busy day to register and are told to go get documents they may no longer have. This unnecessary bill already passed the House. Its effect is to marginalize women and exclude voters. I’m fed up with Republicans using the guise of security since the 2020 election and constant conspiracy theories of rigging to keep certain groups from voting. There’s never been a valid study showing anything but rare voter fraud done only on an individual basis, many of those in primary elections and occasional clerical errors. Our elections have always been secure, even before the numerous laws passed by red states whose intent was to limit access to legal voting. Until then our elections were the gold standard for the rest of the world.

GAIL MATTHEWS

Kellogg