The so-called “SAVE America Act” represents the kind of doublespeak that would have done Aldous Huxley proud. The attack on voting rights is precisely the type of action autocrats across the globe take when consolidating power.
The bill comes in the wake of a federal court permanently enjoining an executive order President Donald Trump issued last year. While other courts had temporarily halted the executive order due to its broad overreach, this court effectively killed it. The Trump administration will likely appeal, hoping that eventually the conservative majority on the Supreme Court will side with him; however, it is neither a sure bet nor would it come fast enough.
Recent polls show Trump’s disapproval rating skyrocketing and congressional races shifting toward Democrats. Right now Democrats hold nearly a five-point lead in generic congressional races. If that holds, it could flip 20 or more seats and control of Congress. Even the Senate, where it seemed impossible for Democrats to take over, now appears in play.
Trump knows that would be a disaster for him.
Democrats holding congressional power would be more than a thorn in his side; they would be the prerequisite check on power the country’s founders envisioned. Rather than coddling and kowtowing to Trump as Republican leaders have, Democratic control would mean direct authority to rebuke and investigate his actions. They would be able to cut off funding to the agencies he has corrupted and halt illegal policies.
Democrats in power would mean Trump would only be a president and not the nearly omnipotent potentate Republicans have groveled before.
Blocked by courts from ruling by fiat, and facing a future Democratic majority, there is little Trump will not do to avoid that outcome. That includes undermining the one, single most important right in any democracy: the right to vote.
Like any other autocrat, Trump only pays lip service to the right to vote. He believes the only necessary and good votes are the votes cast for him. That in turn means he discredits any other votes. He has spent years saying exactly that.
During the four years Trump spent out of power, he continually griped about the “stolen” or “rigged” 2020 election. He said he did not lose, but that it had been taken from him. Despite failing to prove his point — or even introduce potential evidence that made it potentially plausible — in court or to the public, he continued to reiterate that belief.
So it should not be a surprise that he does not hesitate to suppress the right to vote now.
Traditionally, the gatekeepers of that right have been the states. The U.S. Constitution makes that clear. But Trump and his ilk have decided to do everything in their power to undermine that constitutional framework.
For decades the GOP held itself out as the party of “states’ rights,” working against federal overreach and power grabs. Any Democratic act that employed federal power, from climate protection to providing health care, caused an uproar for Republicans. It stood as a primary pillar of the conservative ideology.
And now we know it was all just a lie.
As Trump consolidates more power, not just at the federal level as a whole, but in himself alone, Republicans cheer on the usurpation. They decry any state that stands up for its voting rights. They applaud when Trump seeks retribution, even when it comes at the cost of clean drinking water for farmers and ranches in southeastern Colorado.
They will soon cast their votes to cut democracy to shreds.
For example, Colorado has been at the forefront of mail balloting for more than a decade. Not only does it make it easier to vote, it allows people to sit with their ballots and make more considered choices. The Pew Charitable Trusts (a part of the nonpartisan research group) found that Colorado’s mail balloting system made elections cheaper, more efficient and increased engagement.
It also strengthened trust in the system. Because many Coloradans cast their mail ballots early, and because Colorado law allows those ballots to be processed as they come in, our election results can be tabulated quickly. Often the outcomes can be determined within the first hour after polls close.
The SAVE America Act would destroy that system. It would replace it with a system characterized by long lines at the polls, strict identification rules that will jeopardize citizens’ right to vote and delays in vote counts that will make our elections drag on for days, weeks or months after Election Day.
That is not just a step backward, but off the cliff. Can you imagine what conspiracy theorists like Tina Peters would say about lengthy post-election vote counts? The degradation in our democracy would be precipitous and potentially irreversible.
And that is assuming everything goes off without a hitch. Given how this administration has treated those who have opposed it, from threatening lawsuits to murdering protestors, that is not likely. More likely we would be thrown into chaos.
Maybe that is really what Trump wants. He does not want to save America. He wants to watch it burn as long as he can rule over the ashes.
Mario Nicolais is an attorney and columnist who writes on law enforcement, the legal system, health care and public policy. Follow him on BlueSky: @MarioNicolais.bsky.social.
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