Election results at all levels of our large, complicated government have traditionally been so safe and secure that their reliability need not be questioned — until recently, when seeds of doubt have been planted, fabricated and reiterated, carefully designed to erode trust, cause dissension and evoke a public outcry not easily assuaged by repeated ballot recounts all showing the same results: first-count tabulation accuracy with minuscule, if any, infractions.

Attempts at voter suppression are legion, one of the most insidious being the so-called SAVE ACT, which purports to ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote by presenting documentary proof and voting in person, thereby effectively disenfranchising citizens least able to comply: those who do not have an original birth certificate; those whose surname does not comport with that on their birth certificate (e.g., married women); those who do not have a passport or the means to acquire one; those who do not have transportation to their polling place; and those with a myriad disqualifying contingencies that preclude them from exercising their franchise.

The SAVE ACT, 119th Congress/HR 22, is a draconian solution in search of a nonexistent problem, a barely disguised attempt to end birthright citizenship. Since this undemocratic and discriminatory bill has already passed in the House, it is incumbent upon Sens. Collins and King to be at their most empathic, and vote a resounding “No” to protect the constitutional voting rights of those millions of people who are least able to advocate for themselves.

Helen Kane
Sanford