SAVE Act an unconstitutional attack on American, Idahoan voting rights | Opinion
The president shocked the country on June 24, when he abruptly announced that he would not sign a bipartisan housing bill into law unless and until Congress passed his deceptively-named Save America Act. That bill is an attack on American voting rights that violates the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the clear provisions of the United States Constitution.
It has the support of Idaho’s Congressional delegation and the Idaho Attorney General. Nevertheless, Idahoans must let them know it is federal usurpation of voter rights.
From the time the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, to sign our Declaration of Independence, the 13 colonies were insistent upon choosing their own leaders. They castigated King George III for interfering with the right of colonists to have representative government, pointing to his repeated dissolution of “Representative Houses.”
We now celebrate the 250th anniversary of that marvelous Declaration, but each one of us has the obligation to protect against infringement of its intent and purpose — to oppose the arbitrary action of a despot.
The United States Constitution, which was signed in 1787 and went into effect in 1789, provides absolutely no authority for the president to control federal or state elections. In order to prevent federal overreach, the conduct of elections was given to the states. The Constitution’s Election Clause clearly states: “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof…”
Elections to state offices were to be controlled by the states.
The SAVE Act is an unconstitutional solution to a non-existent problem. Despite repeated claims of election fraud and other irregularities, proponents of the bill have yet to provide any proof that US elections are rigged or even suspect. On the other hand, the SAVE Act is ingeniously designed to disenfranchise voter groups that would have difficulty providing the documents required to establish their right to vote.
The bill would require most Americans to provide a passport or birth certificate to establish their right to vote. A Real ID picture driver’s license would not suffice. Women and others who have changed their name would have to dredge up additional documents to prove their citizenship as a prerequisite to voting. As many as 69 million American women have birth certificates that do not match their current name. More than 21 million voting-age Americans do not have ready access to either a passport or birth certificate. Younger voters and voters of color would suffer disproportionate access to the polls.
Passage of the SAVE Act would throw upcoming elections into chaos, and without providing funding to carry out its provisions, it will be yet another unfunded federal mandate. Furthermore, it would likely be tossed out by a federal court in short order. In fact, the same day the President cancelled the signing of the bipartisan housing bill, a federal court permanently blocked an unconstitutional executive order requiring documentary proof of citizenship to vote.
Idaho’s elected officials should treat the White House’s unconstitutional power play the same way the Idaho Republican Party recently reaffirmed its opposition to federal overreach in its party platform. The platform called for nullification of all “unconstitutional federal mandates,” which would certainly include unwarranted and unconstitutional restrictions on the right of Idahoans to vote.
America’s founders rejected the arbitrary actions of a king that interfered with their right to govern themselves, the colonies fought a war to establish that right, and it was written into our beloved Constitution. Idahoans have a right to expect that our elected officials will honor and protect that fundamental right.
Lori Hickman is the Democratic nominee for Idaho Attorney General.