Make Voting Easier, Not Harder

My latest to Senators Britt and Tuberville:

I oppose the SAVE Act and urge you to vote “No.”

In my 73 years, more than 50 as a voter, I’ve never seen reports of more than just a few fraudulent votes, never enough to swing an election, usually by U.S. citizens. The claim that non-citizens are stealing elections is absurd, as false as the president believing he won the 2020 election.

Alabama has a poor record of voting, even after the Jim Crow era. In the 2024 election, only 60% of those registered voted, with only 66% of eligible voters registered. That’s only 40% of Alabama’s eligible voters. We should be encouraging everyone who is legally eligible to vote, making it easier, not harder. The SAVE Act will only add friction, creating obstacles to dissuade voting.

Birth and marriage certificates may not be easy to obtain. My sister-in-law, a longtime resident of Texas, was required to prove her citizenship when she last renewed her driver license. It took New York, where she was born, several months to send an original birth certificate. That delay could have prevented her voting in an important election, denying a core right of citizenship.

As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it.” You’ll only break it more.