CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The SAVE Act Would Rig Our Elections

Photograph Source: G. Edward Johnson – CC BY 4.0

The Senate is debating the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.

Voting rights organizations, civil rights groups, and others warn that the bill would cause unprecedented disruptions in voting, potentially disenfranchising tens of millions of eligible voters. But President Trump insists that it’s “one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress, and America itself.” He contends it is necessary to stop “cheating” in our elections.

Yet voter fraud is exceptionally rare. As the Brennan Center for Justice concludes, “it simply could not and does not happen” at anywhere near the rate “required to ‘rig’ an election.”

The true purpose of the SAVE America Act is not to make elections safer. It is to exploit people’s fears about marginalized groups — in this case, immigrants and transgender people — to seize more power.

Importantly, in addition to mandating burdensome Voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements that many eligible voters will be unable to meet, the SAVE America Act also bans transgender athletes from........

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