Build Something Better

When it comes to defending voting rights, the only way forward is a strident fight for democracy. By Luke Pickrell

In January, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act was reintroduced in the House. Last week, it passed by a vote split largely along party lines. The bill now heads to the Senate, where pundits expect a struggle to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold. If enacted, the legislation would require all Americans to prove their citizenship in person — using a passport or birth certificate — when registering to vote or updating their voter registration.

This bill is the latest in a series of blatant attempts by the Republican Party to suppress voter participation under the pretense of combating virtually nonexistent voter fraud. As the Center for American Progress notes, the proposed requirements sound simple, but the reality is far more complicated: more than 140 million American citizens do not possess a passport, and up to 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name lack a birth certificate that matches their legal name. Because documentation would need to be presented in person, the law would effectively ban mail-in voter registration, shut down voter registration drives across the country, and eliminate online registration, an option currently offered by 42 states.

Infamously, the Constitution does not guarantee a universal, affirmative right to vote. Instead, various amendments such as the 15th, 19th, and 24th — all won through years of illegal working class struggle — state that one can’t be denied the right to vote for specific reasons. Still, numerous gaps around voter roll purges, felon disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, and residency and registration restrictions remain.

We claim the right to vote — a right that cannot be left in the hands of a gerrymandered House, a comically malapportioned and filibuster-wielding Senate, or unelected judges. The same Senate that some hope will block the Save Act is also responsible for destroying the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and will undoubtedly frustrate the Right to Vote Act. The same Supreme Court that some mistakenly think will stop Trump’s authoritarian agenda also dismantled the 1965 Voting Rights Act and continues to strengthen the executive’s prerogative through decisions like Trump v United States.

Strengthening our grip on the existing system won’t do. The Constitution that led us into this crisis won’t lead us out.

Though he stops short of advocating for a new constitution, New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie makes a powerful observation: “With a house, there is only one thing to do about rot. Tear it up. Remove it. And replace it with something new. If our political system — if our constitutional order — is too rotted through to secure freedom, equality, and the blessings of liberty, then perhaps it’s time to rethink what it is we want out of American democracy.”

We want a democracy that has never truly existed. One grounded in the explicit right to universal and equal suffrage, safeguarded by accountable, elected representatives. It’s time to remove the old foundation and build something better.