1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing to you today as a concerned constituent to express my firm opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. While this legislation is framed as a measure to secure our elections, it is a solution in search of a problem that does not exist. Its primary practical effect would be the systematic disenfranchisement of millions of eligible American voters. Our state takes immense pride in our existing election infrastructure. We already have a bulletproof system in place that ensures only eligible citizens participate in our democracy. Under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, it is already a federal crime for non-citizens to register or vote. Our state’s robust verification processes—refined over decades—already successfully uphold this law. Exhaustive studies across the country consistently show that non-citizen voting is vanishingly rare; implementing a sweeping federal mandate ignores the success of the systems we already have at home. The SAVE Act would impose unnecessary and burdensome "documentary proof of citizenship" requirements that specifically target several groups of legal voters: -- Impact on Women Voters: Millions of American women who have changed their names due to marriage or divorce do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name. By requiring documents that many people do not carry—and which often require secondary "bridge" documents like marriage licenses to verify—this law creates an unnecessary and immoral barrier for women. -- Redundancy and Misinformation: This legislation is built on a foundation of misinformation. Promising to "save" an election system from a nonexistent threat is a campaign designed to undermine public trust and make it harder for eligible citizens to participate in our democracy. -- Ethical and Moral Grounds: I know that you, like many in leadership, hold deeply seated values. I must remind you that the Bible expressly prohibits "bearing false witness." Promoting a narrative of widespread non-citizen voting when there is no proof to support it—and using that narrative to justify laws that prevent citizens from voting—violates this moral principle. Our democracy is at its strongest when more citizens participate, not fewer. I expect you to stand up for the truth, protect the voting rights of your constituents, and vote NO on the SAVE Act. I look forward to hearing your position on this matter and seeing you take a stand for a fair, secure, and accessible election system.