The Oath Cannot Be Outsourced
Holding Oaths Accountable: Lesson Three
This is the next in a series of articles on why we must hold elected officials accountable to their Constitutional oaths.
In Lesson One, we discussed how equal protection and due process are not niceties but obligations, using an exchange with Senator Tim Scott. In Lesson Two, we examined Representative Joe Wilson’s claim of a “mandate” to deliver the President’s agenda, and why the oath he swore requires fidelity to the Constitution instead.
Our task today is to measure an oath by conduct. When asked how the SAVE Act would protect eligible voters from disenfranchisement, Senator Graham substituted a template for an answer.
Earlier this year, as the Senate took up the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act with its new “show-your-papers” requirement, my wife and I grew concerned. The law threatens to add another layer of red tape that keeps citizens - especially naturalized citizens, the LGBTQIA+ community, married men and women, the elderly, and the working class - from the ballot box. More than 21 million voting-age Americans don’t have ready access to citizenship documents. This bill would turn paperwork gaps into barriers to voting.
FAQ: Who Lacks Citizenship Documents?
Married individuals: many women take their spouse’s surname or hyphenate and don’t have updated documents that match current records
Naturalized citizens: Not all keep original certificates, and replacements can take months and hundreds of dollars
Elderly voters: Birth certificates are often missing or difficult to obtain
Working-class Americans: Cost and bureaucracy often prevents them from keeping up-to-date documentation
In October of 2024, a federal court in Alabama blocked a voter roll purge that would have mistakenly removed at least 2,000 eligible American voters. In Virginia, 1,600 eligible voters were purged just one week before the election.
The SAVE Act attempts the same play nationwide by adopting aggressive list-maintenance practices that predictably risks purging eligible voters from voter rolls.
According to the Brennan Center, it’s still not clear whether Alabama identified a single noncitizen on the rolls. But here we are a year later, repeating the same errors.
A Purge, not a Protection
So I did what citizens are supposed to do: I contacted my legislators. I asked how my wife’s right to vote - and the rights of similarly situated citizens - would be protected by adopting these documentation rules and list-maintenance processes.
One of my senators replied. At first glance, it sounds reassuring.
I am glad he is committed to my fundamental right to vote, but that was not my question. I contacted him about the rights of those threatened by the legislation he sponsored. Members of the Cabinet are posting and praising videos calling for the end of women’s right to vote. These are not normal times.
The reply looked mighty familiar. A week earlier, after I detailed to Senator Graham just a few of the many ways President Trump was violating the Constitution, I asked our senior Senator and Air Force veteran to reaffirm his commitment to the Constitution.
I received essentially the same form letter:
No matter the subject - ICE, checks and balances, Trump, voting rights - the response was identical. “Thank you for contacting me regarding [insert complaint]. I appreciate the opportunity to hear from you.” This is automated lip service, not representation.
Representation requires listening.
Senator Graham did not address how the SAVE Act would avoid wrongful removal of eligible voters from the rolls. He did not offer safeguards against this disenfranchisement before it’s implementation begins.
At a bare minimum, voters deserve clear safeguards: a transparent appeals process for anyone flagged for removal; notice and opportunity to correct mismatches before Election Day; and independent oversight of voter list maintenance.
Without these, the SAVE Act will function as a purge, not a protection.
An Oath to the Constitution, Not One Person
Article VI binds senators to support the Constitution. Representation under Article I requires engaging constituent concerns, especially when a fundamental right is at risk. Listening isn’t courtesy. It is part of the oath, because protecting rights requires knowing when they are threatened.
Failing to engage when checks and balances and voting rights are implicated is failing both the Constitution and Senator’s oath to it. If Senator Graham cannot answer how our right to vote will be protected under the SAVE Act, he is not representing us.
He’s certainly not protecting us from executive overreach as the President threatens war on his own citizens via Truth Social. Contrast Senator Graham’s pitiful automaton response with the visceral outrage expressed by Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Army veteran who lost both her legs in the war in Iraq:
Senator Graham has sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States at least fourteen times. I ask Senator Graham to look to his oath of office when the President confronts him for a favor. South Carolinians deserve a senator who honors their oath and protects the Constitution. One who grapples with actual fixes, not rhetoric.
As historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes:
“If I’ve learned one thing from studying tyrants for more than a decade, it’s that institutions are made up of people, and people can be replaced, imprisoned or killed. Elections can be suspended.”
We the people are the source of government power. When the government serves its citizens, citizens give their loyalty. What happens when service stops?
What We Can Do:
Oath letter template (copy, personalize, send):
Subject: Keep Your Oath - Protect the Right to Vote
Dear Senator Graham,
Article VI binds your allegiance to the Constitution and to the people you represent. The SAVE Act risks disenfranchising eligible voters through documentation demands and list maintenance.
Please explain, in writing, how you will ensure that no eligible South Carolinian is wrongfully removed from the rolls or turned away at the polls. At a minimum, voters deserve:
Advance notice before any removal from voter rolls
A transparent appeals process so wrongly flagged voters can restore their eligibility quickly and at no cost
Independent oversight of list maintenance to prevent partisan manipulation
Election Day safeguards ensuring provision of a regular or provisional ballot to any voter who swears they are a citizen
South Carolinians deserve a senator who honors the oath and protects the Constitution. Please affirm your duty and commit to these basic protections.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[City]
Still bearing true faith and allegiance to the Constitution,
Frank
If you want to do more than write, join us in the streets for No Kings 2 on October 18:
Courtesy of 50501 SoCal, used with permission.
50501 Veterans Protester Guide
Sign up, show up, and take action together.