Take it from California's election czar, SAVE Act is a sham

In my family, voting isn't just a right—it's a lifeline.

- Shirley N. Weber, Tribune News Service

My parents were sharecroppers in Arkansas until 1951, when my dad dared stand up to his boss for not paying him a fair wage at the agricultural weigh station. Under threat from the KKK, he left town in a wagon, covered in hay so he wouldn't be discovered. Three months later—after months of threats of violence from the Klan at our home — the rest of our family rode in that same wagon on our way to join him in California. Only when we settled in Los Angeles were my parents able to register to vote, finally free from fear of the violent and deadly retribution that such a simple act would trigger across the Jim Crow South. My family's lived experience facing discrimination and the vigilantes of the South cannot be forgotten, especially now as Congress considers the SAVE Act. The House recently approved the SAVE Act under the guise that it will prevent illegal voting — an issue that is infinitesimally rare but buoyed by baseless narratives.