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Every American Deserves a Voice — Not Just the Ones Who Can Afford It

To: Sen. Grassley, Sen. Ernst

From: A verified voter in Des Moines, IA

February 26

I am urging you to vote NO on the SAVE Act — a bill that does not burden all Americans equally. It targets those who already carry the heaviest load. Think about who this bill really affects. It is not the wealthy professional with a passport, a driver’s license, and a birth certificate neatly filed in a home office. It is the elderly woman in a rural county who was born at home and never had a birth certificate issued. It is the young veteran who has moved several times and cannot easily locate their documents. It is the working mother holding down two jobs who cannot take time off to visit a government office during business hours. It is the college student far from home. It is the person in a low income community where the nearest DMV is an hour away and there is no car to get there. Obtaining the documents this bill requires costs money. It costs time. It costs transportation. For millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck those costs are not minor inconveniences — they are insurmountable barriers. The SAVE Act effectively creates a poll tax — not in name, but in practice. And poll taxes were abolished in this country for a reason. Democracy is not supposed to be a privilege reserved for those who can afford the paperwork. The right to vote is not meant to be rationed by zip code, income, or access to a filing cabinet. Every American citizen — rich or poor, urban or rural, young or old — deserves an equal voice in their government. That is not a Democratic value or a Republican value. That is an American value. When we allow legislation that disproportionately silences the poor, the elderly, the young, and communities of color, we are not protecting democracy. We are deciding that some voices matter more than others. That is a betrayal of everything this country claims to stand for. Senator, the people most hurt by this bill are the ones least able to fight back. That is exactly why we need you to fight for them. They deserve representation. They deserve a voice. They deserve a senator who will stand up and say — not on my watch. Vote NO on the SAVE Act. Because in America, every voice matters and every vote counts.

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