Smith: Curbs proposed by House on voting hurt democracy

 I’m appalled by the MAGA House’s adamant desire to endanger the right to vote by attempting to pass the ACE Act, a  bill that would make it much harder for people like me to vote.

My grandmother died last year at the age of 104. She was born in 1918, before women were permitted to vote. I was born in 1960, before Black citizens were allowed to vote in every state. During the COVID pandemic, Mimmim, my  grandmother, voted by mail in the 2020 presidential election. My college student daughter voted by mail, too. I’m an Air Force veteran with disabilities that make it difficult for me to stand in line to vote, so I also voted by mail. In

2016, my grandmother’s state mailed every registered voter a ballot. The law permitted me to take her ballot to a drop box for her. She received an email confirming that her vote mattered. Voting is fundamental to our democracy. The way we fully participate as citizens in that honored obligation is to vote.

Our freedom to vote is not at the top of Rep. Schweikert’s priority list — making it harder for us to vote and keeping his friends in power clearly is. As Congress returns to Washington, I’m reiterating my call: Rep. Schweikert, it’s time to stand up against your party’s extreme voter intimidation bill and stand with your constituents and with Americans. Protect our participation in democracy — don’t strip it from us.