Election Protection
Remembering ...
This is an Iowa story that could happen to anyone, anywhere. In this case, my best attorney friend Pat and I were assigned to drive through a multi-county area in SW Iowa to check that the voting places in each rural county were running smoothly, safely, and honestly.
In one small town — the kind of town where there is only one place to vote — we drove up, parked, and started to walk into the polling place. It had a big sign beside the door that said, "Voting requires current identification.””
Four elderly ladies were at the door. Three of them were trying to console the fourth lady. Pat and I stopped. We asked almost simultaneously, “What’s the problem? Are you okay?”
The crying woman, tears streaming down her face, responded, “They aren’t going to let me vote.” She pointed to the sign and continued, “I’ve always voted right here, but I don’t have a current ID. No one told me. I can’t drive, so I let my driver’s license expire.””
Pat and I looked at each other. We knew the law. The law required proof of citizenship, such as being American or local, when people first registered to vote in their precincts. New proof of citizenship and voter eligibility is not required every time a voter walks into their voting place.
We took action, flashed our credentials, and were taken back to the county official’s office. She talked to us, and we talked to her… ohhh, that sign didn’t mean what it said, of course, the elderly lady could vote.
I remembered this as I read today about the Republicans’ new scheme to lower
voter turnout. The scheme is called the “SAVE ACT.” There are several bills, but they will all eliminate millions of Americans — AMERICAN CITIZENS! — from voting.
How many elderly women and others will lose their right to vote?
God forbid that anyone who isn’t a billionaire, doesn’t have a passport, or hasn’t carried his birth certificate in his pocket every day, move after move, be allowed to vote. Living in the same place where you originally voted, should the Republican bills to nationalize voting become law.
Never in the history of the United States of America have our citizens been required to “show their papers” every time they step out onto the street, and every time they vote.
House Republicans’ newest version of the bill has been called “Make Elections Great Again (MEGA).” This bill requires a mountain of red tape, or maybe I should say “mountains to climb,” to prove that each of us is an American citizen and allowed to vote. The MEGA list is almost endless, and if it passes and is signed into law, it would take effect instantly after signature.
Remember how many years it took before we reached a threshold that made the driver's license REAL ID and could be used for clearance to fly on airplanes? ANSWER: 20 years!
REAL ID Passed: May 11, 2005
Enforcement Date: May 7, 2025
Well, that was simple. MEGA is not simple. See the roadblocks to voting that the MEGA Save Act intends to instantly impose place:
Proof of citizenship (again!). And …
Proof of residency — if you move within a state, but did not immediately update your driv’s license, YOU FAIL. And …
Photo ID — but OOPS! No student IDs — YOU FAIL! Student Photo IDs, even from state universities, will be acceptable. Tribal IDs are required to have an expiration date; if not — YOU FAIL! Most do not, which makes me wonder, do people ever change tribes … I think not. That would be like your parents being Irish and you deciding to throw away your heritage and claim to be Chinese … nonsense! And …
Then comes the requirement for voter roll purges every 30 days. Purged for what? Well, that’s a good question. Let fans of the House Republicans decide, possibly every 30 days. (Currently, there is a 90-day rule that prevents voter registrations from being purged because it protects registered voters from being surprised at the polls … purges do make mistakes, and voters have the right to defend their right to vote.) And …
Universal mail voting would also be forbidden, so here comes the extra paperwork — find the form, fill it out, mail it, wait until someone reads it and mails you the ballot, then you can mail it back. Currently, eight states and Washington, DC use universal mail voting every election … so for these voters, they can kiss goodbye this easy way to vote.
The Senate also has a bill, so if that version prevails, be prepared for more complications. For example, voters are required to present a birth certificate or a passport to register and then again at the polls when they vote, UNLESS the state has shared the voter registration with the federal government.
Overall, BIG BROTHER STRIKES AGAIN. This would be the BIG BROTHER dedicated to stopping people from voting.
Think about it this way. We all know that over the past year, our government has banned the publication of numerous kinds of statistics, or even their collection. That left us with nothing but our gut and our vision to see when kids are hungry or when people have lost their jobs, etc.
As voting eligibility becomes more complicated, we lose our right to complain. In 2024, Trump claimed a huge victory, but no … that victory was very narrow. Some voters heard the word “huge” and only now are learning there was no mandate. The “imaginary mandate” Trump claimed helped pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that raised the price of health care, deleted food for hungry children all over the world, not just here, and gave big tax breaks to billionaires.
Voting can stop this, but only if we ensure everyone votes, not just the billionaires and other favored ones.
Please SHARE. We all need to know.
I was denied the right to vote in two federal elections. In 1986 many states had laws effectively preventing college students from voting. In 1998 I was blocked from entering my polling place by a cop. When I turned around, after I unsuccessfully tried to argue that the law permitted me to vote, I realized that all of the people in line behind me were Latino or immigrants. I walked away rather than be arrested.
The intent of the SAVE Act is crystal clear.
The SAVE Act implements poll taxes. Every document requires some form of payment (or service) to a government. It will violate the 14th and 24th amendments, the Voting Rights Act, Hartman vs. Forssenius, and Harper vs. Virginia State Board of Elections. Of these, Hartman vs. Forssenius seems most important because of the clarification in the decision describing equivalences to a poll taxes.
So who is drafting the lawsuit?
Exactly. And thank you. Trump snd his ilk are so afraid. They are cornered and the more afraid they get, the more dangerous they become.