1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

The House just passed the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote, and gives DHS the right to seize voter rolls in any state. That puts us one step closer to obliterating voting rights in this country, and chips away at the foundation of free and fair elections. The bill passed along party lines, although one Democrat - Henry Cuellar of Texas - joined Republicans in voting in favor. Even if this thing dies in the Senate, it will live rent-free in the minds of voters who were already inclined to believe Trump’s lies that elections are rigged. The rhetorical impact is impossible to understate. As propaganda, it’s more valuable than gold. What Trump is trying to do here is ratchet up the paranoia around the delusion of Democrats mobilizing undocumented voters in order to throw the midterms, where Republicans face the possibility of massive losses. But that’s yet another baseless lie. Voter fraud by undocumented immigrants is an imaginary problem cooked up by Trump to feed to his insane base. The SAVE Act would impose so-called proof of citizenship, which is really just a fancy way of saying, “we don’t want young people and married women who change their last names to be able to register to vote.” It also makes it explicitly clear that government-issued ID does not include student IDs issued by colleges and universities. Even if it’s the flagship institution of that state. Republicans want to make the burden of proof that you’re a US citizen sky high, but when you start to break that down, it gets messy, fast. What about a passport? Nope. Most Americans don’t have a passport - that includes Republicans. How about driver’s licenses? That’s a mess. Real IDs haven’t been rolled out everywhere, and even where they have, not everyone’s got one. And states issue drivers licenses to green card holders and legal visa holders. It would be a disaster. How about an original birth certificate? Nevermind that I haven’t laid eyes on mine since right around the time of my birth. This is the party of a guy who questioned Barack Obama’s citizenship, and when he produced a birth certificate, Trump said, “Not real.” If they can do it to a sitting president, what’s to stop them from doing it to you? And think about this: if Trump succeeds in court in doing away with birthright citizenship (which he’s attempting to do right now), a birth certificate wouldn’t mean anything anyway. Taken together, it’s clear: this is just about making it harder for anyone to vote, and easier to challenge the validity of elections. It makes you wonder, why are Republicans so afraid of free and fair elections?