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John,
Free and fair elections are essential in a democracy, and once again they are under attack. President Donald Trump and his allies seem to believe every election he wins is fair and any election he or his allies lose is unfair. Given the unpopularity of his policies, he is trying to do all he can to get the electorate he wants—from investigating political adversaries, to attacking our constitutional rights, to pardoning violent rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan 6.—rather than let voters show their will.
And now, with its ironically named SAVE America Act, the administration appears to have extended its push to prevent more people, disproportionately women and the poor, from voting.
Send your representative and senators a message now telling them to reject the SAVE Act in all its forms.
The SAVE America Act and the Make Elections Great Again Act—together known as SAVE 2.0—and their precursor, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, would drastically reshape how we make our voices heard by regularly purging voter rolls, requiring harmful documentation mandates nationwide, and imposing criminal penalties on bipartisan election officials.
These bills, at their core, are designed to take power away from working people and give more influence to billionaires and corporate donors, just as this administration did when it cut healthcare to give tax breaks to the wealthy.
If passed, the bills would:
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Undermine safe, reliable vote-by-mail systems across the country, making it harder for seniors, people with disabilities and working people to vote.
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Limit ways to prove eligibility to vote by restricting acceptable standalone ID documents to passports and birth certificates and requiring additional documentation for other forms of ID, including driver’s licenses and military IDs; shutting out college students; and making things more difficult for married voters who have changed their names.
As a history teacher and a lawyer, I can tell you that this administration’s tactics are deliberate attempts to limit who votes. For generations, we have tried to expand the vote; now, this crowd in office wants to limit it. It’s not about fraud—there is no evidence of that—it is about limiting who votes.
Tell your lawmakers to reject SAVE 2.0 and strengthen the people’s right to vote.
Thank you.
In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President
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