The Save Act is a law designed for a problem that doesn’t exist It will fail—I hope—and should. The attempt to move the Constitutional vesting of elections from the states to a federally controlled process is dangerous and unnecessary.
I have been hearing accusations of voter fraud since I first voted in 1972, and I have lived in six states since then. It was usually in conversations after an election, or when someone was angry about the world changing. But the nearest thing I see to it is sports fans on social media after their team loses. It is passionate, absolutist, and convinced of a plot by “them,,” be they referees, the media, or the coaches and staff of the other team. Always anecdotal, opinionated, emotional, and without factual evidence.
Our elections need to stay where the founders put them. They understood the risk of the power to manipulate the process if it is controlled by a centralized power. Heaven knows, between the vast dark money we pour into it, social media, and now AI, there is manipulation enough. But did you ever notice that when someone talks about voter fraud that they never accuse anyone on their “side?” It’s always a “they,” the people who live in a part of their state or community they’ve never lived or been to enough to know?
When you create a way to put your finger on the scale, does it occur to you that the other side might do the same next time?
When you lose a game, you have to stop making excuses and figure out what didn’t work. You don’t change the essence of the game. To put it another way, you don’t eliminate fear of manipulating the outcome by manipulation. You work harder to win next time.
The Flatpickin' Pilgrim's Progress 
Question for consideration: Regardless of a side one may be on, is the possibility of cheating more easy if a voter does not have to positively identify themself??
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I don’t disagree,but that is already the case in registration, voting, etc. I would be more comfortable with provided national guidelines but allowing states the authority they already have to implement. This bill mandates that everyone has to bring multiple forms of identification. The effect, intended or not, exhausts people into staying home. As usual, the desire of a bill does not always help people to comply (a chronic federal weakness—pass laws but don’t fund it enough to achieve it. Ideally, this would mean a massive effort to go out and assist those who do not have adequate documentation to do it.
The bureaucratic nightmare is hard to fathom. But the biggest issue is the I’ve to federalize elections. The danger is enormous. The centralized nature of that is a problem that will live long beyond this moment. The states do a great job of this, imperfect though it may be.
The larger issue is one we theologians know more about: our deep divisions and distrust of one another. No process change alone can fix that. We have much reconciliation work to do, don’t we? I also think the founders wisely built this recognition into the system of checks and balances. Our greatest work is to keep believing in our democracy and work to believe in one another. There is far more common ground than we seen to be standing on at the moment. Asking a good question is part of that and taking it seriously helps.
Thanks, Allen! Made me think it through some more! Love to Naomi.
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