To the Editor:
I have lived a long time in this beautiful country. Distressingly, we have a convicted criminal as President.
Trump manifests his criminal instincts as he arrests judges, threatens universities free speech rights, deports people without due process, illegally withholds funds Congress has allocated, enacts punishing tariffs, insults our allies, and supports our enemies — the war criminal Putin in particular.
Note Trump’s disparagement of women…and of historically marginalized groups. Remember, Trump was also convicted of sexual assault.
His most recent and still viable manifestation of his war against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is one of the most dangerous voter suppression bills we’ve seen. It is called Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. Its goal is clear: make it harder for millions of Americans to register and vote.
It recently passed the Republican-dominated House.
The SAVE Act’s requirements are that American citizens show a birth certificate or passport to prove citizenship when they register to vote.
Registration to vote must be in person, which will disproportionately affect minority communities, low-income individuals, the elderly, and people with disabilities who may face barriers in obtaining the necessary identification, or transportation to get to in-person registration sites.
Importantly, this bill would also have a devastating impact on the approximately 69 million women in America who legally changed their last names when they got married because the SAVE Act requires a birth certificate that matches the name of the person registering to vote.
The SAVE Act passed the House and is now in the Senate.
Karen Guzak
Snohomish
