Dear Editor:

Monopoly of political power is the defining characteristic of all dictatorships.

Minority parties have used and corrupted democratic institutions, where they pre-existed, to impose authoritarian rule and act as “permanent majorities.” This is the case with Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia; all of them have sanctioned murdering their dissidents.

Republicans, who comprise only the minority of registered voters, now control all three branches of our federal government — yet they plan to impose the most restrictive voter registration requirements since the Jim Crow era. Their Safeguard American Voters Eligibility (SAVE) Act has been drafted to depress turnout of two key Democratic constituencies: Black voters and young people.

Should this become law, millions of eligible voters will face unreasonable barriers to registration.

American citizens who do not possess proof-of-citizenship documents, such as a certified birth certificate (13 million), a passport (146 million), or a naturalization certificate will be denied voter registration. Should they have one of these, they will be required to present it in person when they apply to register. Mail registration will be eliminated.

Registered voters who have changed their address will be forced to re-register, in person, for their Constitutional right to cast a ballot.

Because of the ambiguity of the bill, women who have changed their names — 69 million married women — may not be able to use their marriage license to register for voting.

Voters applying for registration and those needing to re-register in the West’s largest counties will be forced to drive an average of 261 miles to reach their election offices; many of those in Alaska and Hawai’i will have to fly.

All of these hurdles to prevent a “problem” that is vanishingly rare. A Georgia audit last year uncovered 0.00024% of suspected noncitizen voting.

Four years ago, the defeated president fomented a deadly insurrection to overturn the result of a free and fair election. Last year, in his “landslide victory,” more people voted for candidates other than Trump.

The SAVE Act is yet another blatant, Republican attempt to subvert our 238-year-old democratic republic.

Bill Hammond

Boothbay