Dear Editor: An especially appropriate way to honor Elizabeth Peratrovich is to oppose the SAVE Act, Trump’s election reform bill that would require new voters or anyone registering to vote for any reason to show proof of citizenship – and proof of residence when voting – not an easy task for many who have lost their birth certificate, don’t have a passport, changed their name when they got married, or moved within a state without updating their driver’s license.
Elizabeth Peratrovich’s convincing testimony to the Alaska legislature in 1945 resulted in the passing of the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act, the first in the U.S., and also established the right to vote for Native Alaskans. The SAVE Act would disenfranchise Americans of all ages and races, but younger voters and voters of color, including Alaska Natives, would suffer disproportionately.
The U.S. has the gold standard for voting accuracy and safety. All available evidence, including from the Trump administration itself, indicates that only American citizens vote and the exceptions are vanishingly rare. Recent claims of voter fraud have been repeatedly dismissed in court.
In fact, the biggest voting problem in the U.S. is not voter fraud, but low voter turnout. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the 2024 presidential election 73.6% of the voting-age population was registered to vote and 65.3% voted, which means that only 48% of eligible voters voted in the last presidential election.
Nationalizing rules for voting is not only addressing a non-problem, it’s unconstitutional. Article 1 and Amendments 14 and 17 of the U.S. Constitution give the states the power to run elections, which means that specifics of how elections are carried out will vary from state to state, depending on a state’s particular needs. As Senator Murkowski recently pointed out, “one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska.”
Voting is a right and a responsibility of citizens, not a privilege. Too many people are not acting on that. The SAVE Act does the opposite of what is needed by making exercising the right to vote more difficult. Representative democracy is a sham when only the privileged few can vote – or when only a few, in fact, do vote.
There’s a lot that can be done to address the real problem of low voter turnout. Congress, government, could counter voter cynicism by making decisions based on the needs of their constituents, not their corporate donors. They could be honest and transparent. Schools and media could emphasize and educate that democracy only works when you participate and that voting is the primary tool for that.
Let’s change the emphasis from fear, suspicion, and prejudice against our fellow citizens and promote inclusiveness. Let’s embrace the actions that Elizabeth Peratrovich took.
Marian Allen, Sitka
