To the editor:

The .US. House of Representatives is considering a so-called SAVE Act – Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act which, if passed, would require citizens to present, in person, proof of U.S. citizenship when registering or re-registering to vote in a federal election.

Acceptable proof is an original birth certificate or a valid passport. The name on the birth certificate must match the citizen’s current legal name.

Consider your widowed elderly aunt, a lifetime voter, who has sold her home in Lafayette and moved to assisted living in New Ulm. She needs to reregister. She hasn’t used the name on her birth certificate for decades and if she ever did have a passport, it has long since expired.

Her sacred right to vote is lost.

The SAVE Act is not needed. The apparent goal is to prevent noncitizens from voting. However, current law already effectively prohibits noncitizens from voting. Study after study in election after election has demonstrated that noncitizens are not being allowed to vote.

There are other serious problems with this proposal but perhaps more important there are truly serious threats facing the citizens of Congressional District 1 which deserve our legislator’s attention.

Please call Representative (Brad) Finstad to voice your concerns and give him a reason to reconsider and refocus. His two phone numbers are 507-577-6151 and 202-225-2472.

Ruth Ann Webster

New Ulm

— President, League of Women Voters New Ulm