Protect voting rights

That was the day our pastor’s mother became a voting rights activist.

Despite Black men having gained the right to vote through the 15th Amendment in 1869, (and women through the 19th Amendment in 1920), “Jim Crow” laws were used to discourage Black people from voting until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 curbed practices like “literacy tests” and “poll taxes.”

Fast forward 60 years and Betsy Spencer, age 70, faced her own blockade to voting in New Hampshire. She had recently moved back to Hopkinton, where she had voted for decades but after briefly moving away and registering elsewhere she had to register again. Knowing that there was a new state law requiring her to prove her citizenship, she thought she had brought everything she needed, current photo ID and birth certificate, but the last name on the birth certificate did not match her married name on her ID, so that was a no go.

Another would-be voter, Brook Yonge of Derry, faced the same problem, her driver’s license had her married name and that didn’t match her birth certificate. She was sent home to find a copy of her marriage license. Around 100 would-be voters were turned away. Readers may be thinking that this was just a slight inconvenience but others see the New Hampshire law as a new tool for voter suppression, especially targeted at women. 

On the right, alarmists have fretted for years about election integrity, claiming massive ongoing fraud, especially after Joe Biden won in 2020. The “Stop the Steal” frenzy that culminated in the Capitol Hill riot was sparked by claims of massive fraud, of which no evidence was ever found. Funny how after the Republicans won Congress and the White House in 2024, no one on the right complained about fraud. 

Today, most voters can fill out and mail in a National Mail Voter Registration form, on which they must swear or affirm, under penalty of perjury, that they are a citizen and eligible to vote. The form includes instructions for any states that require additional documentation. State registrars have tools they can and do use to ferret out ineligibility and fraud. Nationwide, convenient, mail-in registration is about to go out the window if the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, HR22, is passed by Congress. It will require that every eligible voter provide documentary proof of citizenship, in person, to register, including a provision that the last name on their photo ID must match their birth certificate. Of married women, 79% might fail that test without burdensome and expensive hurdles.

The nonpartisan League of Women Voters opposes the SAVE Act, noting the severe impact it would also have on people of color, who are three times less likely to have easy access to the kinds of documentation required. Trans people, same-sex couples, active duty military, rural residents and college students would also face new obstacles to registering and voting. Proposed federal criminal penalties against state election workers and volunteers may make them more likely to reject legitimate voters to avoid prosecution. Again, why add burdensome hurdles when there is no evidence of a real problem needing this solution? I doubt many of you support Republican pundit Ann Coulter’s “pipe dream and fantasy” that “If we took away a woman’s right to vote we’d never have to worry about another Democrat president.”

I urge you to read about and work to defeat the SAVE Act. Visit the League’s petition at bit.ly/3RysZLn or call your representative to voice your opinion. Our pastor’s mom and too many others worked too hard for too long for all of us to have the right to vote, without unnecessary, expensive and discriminatory burdens. 

Craig Wiesner is the co-owner of Reach And Teach, a book, toy and cultural gift shop on San Carlos Avenue in San Carlos.