Toolkit: Stop Voter Suppression

  • Our voting rights are under attack. If The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act passes, it would severely restrict voter access and make it more expensive to vote. 


    Another bill, The Make Elections Great Again Act, (MEGA) Act could keep millions of eligible U.S. citizens from being able to vote and make it harder to vote by mail. Elections are currently run by members of our local communities and our states. With this bill, the federal government is attempting to seize that power.

  • Ohioans, like most Americans, believe that in the United States, the voters pick our leaders. But Senators Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno are pushing a bill that would block people from voting so the Trump Regime can control our elections and seize more power. Most Americans want every voter to vote and every vote cast to be counted. We must ensure the will of the people prevails. Hands Off Our Vote. 

    • Lead with values: Most of us are taught in school that voting is a cornerstone of our democratic system and a sacred right. 

    • Name the villain & their motivation: Maga Republicans want to control our elections and seize more power. Attacks on voting rights like the so-called SAVE Act are designed to help MAGA cheat, steal, and/or game the system for their own political gain.

    • Lean into voting as an act of defiance: ASO’s research shows that framing voting as an act of resistance is very effective. 

    • Avoid abstractions: Research shows that people respond best to concrete language such as “keep people from voting” instead emphasizing “democracy.”

    • Don’t say “SAVE ACT” or safeguard, reference voter suppression. The language is meant to confuse citizens. We need to be clear in our messaging: MAGA Republicans want to stop Black and brown people, women, transpeople, and gay people from voting.

    • The “SAVE Act” is a dangerous, unnecessary rewrite of election laws that will block American citizens from voting. It will make it harder to organize, and harder for elections to run smoothly. It’s an attack on our voting rights, plain and simple.

    • These bills include in-person show-your-papers requirements that could exclude millions of eligible U.S. citizens from registering to vote. Millions of us don't have passports or access to our birth certificates. For those of us who have changed our names - most commonly through marriage - our IDs won’t match our birth certificates.

    • Many eligible citizens don’t have documentary proof of citizenship. 52% of registered voters do not have an unexpired passport with their current legal name. Rural voters will be forced to travel far to access offices to get these documents.

    • These bills also mandate faulty voter roll purges that threaten purges of eligible voters from the rolls without any required notice, limit access to vote by mail, impose criminal liability on election officials, and more.

    • Federal law already requires that only eligible citizens vote in our elections, and all states have systems in place to enforce this. The SAVE Act would create unnecessary hurdles, push voters off the rolls, and burden election officials at a time when resources are already stretched thin.

  • SOUND THE ALARM:  

    • Share the truth: The “SAVE” Act and its two extreme versions are voter suppression bills.

    • SEND A LETTER: Tell the Senate to vote NO on the SAVE Act.

    WRITE & SPEAK OUT:

    • Publish op-eds or letters to the editor telling them how these dangerous bills create new and unnecessary barriers to voting that shuts millions of eligible U.S. citizens out of our democracy and results in voter purges that strip us of our freedom to vote.

  • Voter Suppression (SAVE Act) Content

download full toolkit