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Nova Dugan-Mezensky · April 1, 2025

Toolkit: Voting Rights are Under Attack

Updated 4.1.2025

The Save Act

Forces every single American citizen to prove their citizenship status in-person when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information. This act, if enacted, threatens to disenfranchise millions of U.S. citizens: 146M Americans (8M in Ohio) do not have a passport, and 69M women (2.3M in Ohio) who have married do not have a birth certificate that matches their new legal name. Working-class and low-income Americans would be disproportionately disenfranchised if this bill becomes law. 

Guidance

  • Lead with a shared value like “freedom” and “the right to decide our own future”
  • Dismiss attempts to label the SAVE Act as a way to enhance election integrity or security when we know only eligible citizens are able to vote
  • Say what is true rather than refuting what is not. Ex. say: “only eligible Americans are allowed vote” but avoid saying “non-citizen voting” to get your point across
  • Lean in to how attacks on voting rights are unfair and designed to help MAGA cheat, steal, and/or game the system for their own political gain

SAVE Act Messaging 

  • Federal law already requires that only eligible citizens vote in federal 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.
  • The SAVE Act is a scam. Corrupt politicians are selling out our voting rights by blocking millions from voting, cheating now to make it easier for them to win elections later. Don’t fall for it.
  • Here they go again, MAGA Republicans’ latest attempt to cheat in the next election is by making it harder for 2.3M Ohio women to vote. This is their same old playbook and we won’t stand for it. 
  • Our democracy works best when every eligible voter, regardless of background, can make their voice heard.

General Anti-Voter Policy Messaging

  • Voter purges make it harder for eligible Americans to vote
  • America’s founders and service members fought to protect our right to vote, pro-voter policies honors their service and sacrifice
  • America’s founders and service members fought to protect our right to vote, pro-voter policies honors their service and sacrifice
  • Instead of deleting voter registrations, let’s enact bipartisan alternatives to maintaining accurate voter rolls such as automatic voter registration and same-day registration
  • The right to vote is a cornerstone of American democracy. Federal protections of voting rights would guarantee the right for all eligible citizens and protect it from the whims of state politicians or either political party

Messaging DO’s and DON’Ts

✅ DOs❌ DONTs
✅ Use words like “freedom”, “right to decide our future”, “attack on our voting rights”.  ❌ say “voter suppression” or “non-citizen voting”
✅ Describe anti-voter policies as a way for MAGA Republicans to “cheat”, “game” or put their “thumb on the scale” to grow their power over our lives. ❌ make language partisan
✅ Name the culprits – MAGA Republicans and dangerous billionaire backers – and their motivations to grow their power.
❌ use defensive language that reinforces the opposition’s narrative. “Although we need to prevent …”
✅ Focus on outcomes, not sequencing of events: the SAVE Act will prevent millions of Americans from casting their vote. ❌ use jargon or technical terms such as “affidavit” or “provisional”. Keep the message clear and accessible to a broad audience.
✅ reinforce how strong and accurate America’s election system already is and how only eligible citizens are allowed to vote. ❌ allow the conversation to be about the need for additional election security in the name of election integrity. 
✅ Use language that shows we’ve overcome these anti-voter attacks before without allowing our opponent to appear invincible.
“There they go again…”
“Same old tired playbook”		❌ Say “unprecedented assault”, “never before attempted”.
✅Anti-voter operatives spread lies about immigrants and voting to sow doubt about an election they know they’re losing❌ Legitimize anti-voter policies by ceding ground to election integrity

Recent Attacks on Voting Rights (National)

  • President Trump has signed a new executive order that would require prospective voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.
  • Congressional Republicans are pushing a bill (SAVE Act) that would make sweeping changes to voter registration, including requiring those signing up to present documents proving U.S. citizenship. But tens of millions of Americans say they don’t have easy access to such documents, and critics say the proposal would dramatically depress voter participation.

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