Action 168: Comment NOW
Background: The far right has been trying to suppress voting for a long, long time. "I don't want everybody to vote... As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down." This classic 1980 quote is from Paul Weyrich (1), co-founder of ALEC (2) and The Heritage Foundation (3).
Although attacked from many sides, our voting rights in Maine are still strong. We are all working hard to defeat Referendum Question 1 on Nov. 4 (psst - you can vote NOW). The SAVE Act did not pass in Congress (no thanks to Rep. Golden). Trump’s Executive Order to require proof of citizenship was thwarted by a judge. But the far right is relentless and will stop at nothing to stop you from voting. Now they are trying to get the independent, bipartisan Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to require a passport or other proof of citizenship to register to vote. (4) This is apparently in response to a petition from the American First Legal Foundation (AFLF) which is Stephen Miller’s organization. (5)
Action: The EAC is taking public comments on this latest voter suppression measure. Our task is to comment in opposition to the AFLF petition:
· Go to the petition and click “comment”.
· Share why you oppose this proof of citizenship requirement. (6)
· Choose whether to share your name and information or submit your comment anonymously.
Urgency: Comments close October 20. Do it today. If we don’t comment, they will assume we don’t care.
Extra Credit:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Weyrich. Worth reading for historical understanding.
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heritage_Foundation. To track the progress of
Project 2025, see https://www.project2025.observer/en
(4) https://joycevance.substack.com/p/a-thing-you-can-do-right-now-to-help
(5) https://aflegal.org
(6) Some talking points: EAC’s rules already require certification that you are a citizen under penalty of perjury, which is the same standard for the other forms of documentation listed in the ruling (U.S. Passport, State-issued Real ID-compliant driver's license indicating that the applicant is a citizen, an official military identification card that indicates the applicant is a citizen of the United States, or a valid Federal or State government-issued photo identification if such identification indicates that the applicant is a United States citizen or if such identification is otherwise accompanied by proof of United States citizenship). So the new requirement is both redundant, and expensive/time consuming for the voter. List why it would be burdensome for you or your loved ones. Have you misplaced your birth certificate? Has your name changed? Do you have free time to go get a new State ID? Plus there is NO documentation that ANY outcome-determinative voter fraud has occurred. Consider that a fraudster would be risking a felony – for what? Specifics can be found in an AI searches for “is it a felony to vote illegally?” and “documentation that an outcome-determinative voter fraud has occurred in US”.