Tyranny in Action

Tyranny in Action

The president signed an Executive Order (EO) last Tuesday that will establish a National List of Citizens that his Department of Justice (DOJ) will use to determine if you and I are eligible to vote…or NOT. The first thing I thought of when I read this was the 1939 Nazi compiled Deutsche Volksliste (German People’s List), and you too might recall from history what that was ultimately used for.

Then I told myself “He knows his SAVE Act isn’t going to make it out of the Senate so this must be Plan B”. But why does he want voters’ personal, highly sensitive data that he is not legally entitled to have?

John J. Martin, Ass’t. Professor of Law, Quinnipiac Univ. writes “States have exclusive authority to govern and administer state and local elections, and Congress may regulate only the time, place, and manner of federal elections – Congress (not the president) may change only procedural elements of elections for federal offices.”

This EO is an authoritarian power grab. The president wants his DOJ to determine who isn’t eligible to vote. His DOJ alone will flag ineligible voters from the “list”. States’ election officials then must use the “new” list to send out ballots. If the officials don’t comply, his DOJ will prosecute them, and Federal funds will be withheld from their State. This president is planning on culling our voter rolls and manipulating the elections to benefit himself. And he is using threats and intimidation to force it. Tyranny.

The Executive Order points to the Nat’l Voter Registration Act of 1993, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002 for support. But neither of those Acts requires states to reveal sensitive voter information or provides justification for his flimsy, tyrannical purpose. While some states have caved to this EO, most are fighting it in court, including Oregon.

“This is flatly illegal”, says Sean Morales-Doyle, director of Brennan Center’s Voting Rights & Elections Program. Tobias Read, Oregon Secretary of State, says the EO is “unnecessary, politically motivated and an illegal encroachment on state-run elections.” And Adrian Fontes, Arizona Secretary of State, contends “The greatest threat to American elections is Donald Trump lying about them.”

Support the fight to stop this tyrannical move.

Resist!

Janet Jeffery, Gold Beach