Amendment to require citizenship proof to vote

To the editor:

America has been referred to as “the world’s greatest democracy.” In recent years, however, there has been an undermining in the confidence in American democracy.

Donald Trump didn’t invent the Republican tactic of using racial and religious bigotry to win elections. Half a century ago, Richard Nixon betrayed the party of Lincoln with his Southern strategy to win the votes of racist southern Democrats angered by their party’s support for civil rights and equal voting rights for all Americans.

In 2014, Republican states throughout the country followed Wisconsin’s lead in requiring photo IDs. Wisconsin federal Judge Lynn Adelman said that writing such laws endangered the voting rights of 300,000 plus citizens who lacked an ID, disproportionately impacting Black and Latino voters.

Voter ID was just the foot in the door. Republican legislatures ever since have continued to create tidal waves of voting restrictions aimed to reduce voting by specific racial groups that are likely to vote against them.

Now we have an attempt by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature to make sure that noncitizens can’t vote in any national, state, local or school elections or referendums. They want the Wisconsin voters to change the state Constitution so instead of “every” citizen being allowed to vote, “only” those who can prove they are citizens can vote. Looking down the road, this may require every voter to “prove” their citizenship. Gone is the chance for home rule where cities and villages can rule themselves and be flexible in the way they ask for voter input.

This stunt is a threat to our democracy. It would shut out certain people and erode the “right” to vote. The language is misleading and does not give enough information about how it would be implemented.

Vote no to ensure that our state Constitution remains untouched and the right to vote is guaranteed for generations to come.

Jan Koch, Shawano