The tale of “Chicken Little” has been told to children for hundreds of years in multiple languages and among various cultures, featuring a character named Henny Penny — also known in the story as the title character — who believes the world is coming to an end.
The phrase “the sky is falling” is featured prominently in the story and has evolved into a common idiom in the English language indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent.
But while the protagonist is just a fictitious character, in contemporary American society, new versions of Chicken Little have arisen and secured bully pulpits from which to spew their false claims.
Voter fraud, as touted by the president and other members of the Republican Party, which began to surface as early as 2016, are examples of efforts by powerful Americans to mislead an ill-informed and gullible citizenry.
Even right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation, known as the source of the controversial Project 2025, has been unable to prove that voter fraud is a problem in America.
According to Heritage, in the highly contested state of Pennsylvania — with data that goes back 30 years and covers 32 elections with over 100 million votes cast — only 39 cases of voter fraud have been identified.
In Arizona, the percentage of fraudulent votes over the last 25 years was a miniscule .0000845%.
Further, no election outcome in the U.S. has ever been altered by ballot fraud as reported cases of fraud over the past 13 to 38 years are less than 1%.
No, Henny Penny, the sky is NOT falling!
So, why does the president and his supporters continue to rant and rave, claiming that Congress must pass the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act to protect and secure voter integrity?
To protect whom? The SAVE Act would not protect women, people of color, or those who are homeless or lack acceptable forms of ID. However, it would provide access to federal voting rolls. And it would open the door for a far less-inclusive demographic of eligible voters, harkening back to 1776 when only white men, age 21 or older, and who owned property were legally able to vote.
The practice of voter discrimination and the removal of racial barriers to voting ended in 1870 with the ratification of the 15th Amendment. But because of the refusal by multiple states to follow the law, or who added new obstacles, it wasn’t until 1965, with the federal Voting Rights Act, that the path to the voting booth was cleared for African Americans.
Similarly, despite the ratification of the 19th Amendment, many women in the U.S. still could not vote. They, like African Americans, faced obstacles that included literacy tests, threats of violence and other forms of intimidation.
The SAVE Act is nothing more than an attempt by the president to reshape the electorate, ramp up severe voter suppression, and ensure Republican victories in the upcoming elections.
At least, that’s what experts at the Brennan Center for Justice conclude.
The Founding Fathers would not condone such actions. And neither should any American today.
