OP-ED| Protect Democracy by Protecting the Vote

America is different from most countries because we never placed our elections under the control of one person or one government.

The Founders understood something history has proven time and time again. The closer power stays to the people, the harder it is for anyone to take it away.

That is why states administer elections. We send representatives to Washington, but they are elected by the people in their states. That separation was not an accident. It was a safeguard. It was designed to prevent any president, Congress, or political party from controlling the very system that determines who holds power.

Today, proposals like the SAVE Act would expand the federal government’s role in establishing rules for federal elections. Supporters argue the bill protects election integrity. I believe it moves us away from one of the constitutional guardrails that has protected American democracy for nearly 250 years.

History teaches us to be cautious whenever leaders seek greater influence over the system that determines whether they remain in office.

In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez promised to strengthen democracy while steadily rewriting the rules in ways that concentrated more power in the national government. Nicolás Maduro continued down that path until elections no longer served as an effective check on those in power.

In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega weakened independent election institutions, sidelined political opponents, and transformed elections into exercises that no longer reflected genuine democratic competition.

In Peru, Alberto Fujimori used a national crisis to justify consolidating authority and weakening democratic institutions that had restrained the presidency.

During Viktor Orbán’s sixteen years in power in Hungary, his government changed election laws, redrew districts, and reshaped public institutions in ways that critics argued favored the ruling party. In 2026, Hungarian voters removed him from office, proving that democracy can recover when citizens remain engaged and institutions endure.

In Russia, Vladimir Putin’s government has steadily restricted opposition candidates, weakened independent oversight, and concentrated political power while continuing to hold elections that many international observers have concluded are neither free nor fully competitive.

Different countries. Different political parties. Different cultures.

The pattern, however, is remarkably similar.

First, convince people that the existing election system cannot be trusted.

Next, argue that government needs greater authority over the electoral process to fix the problem.

Then, gradually reduce the ability of states, courts, independent institutions, or voters themselves to serve as checks on those already in power.

I am not suggesting America is Venezuela, Russia, or Nicaragua. We are not.

I am saying that one reason America has remained the world’s oldest continuous constitutional republic is because our Constitution deliberately divides power. States administer elections. Courts resolve disputes. Congress has limited constitutional responsibilities. No single office controls the entire process.

That design deserves to be protected.

Our elections should absolutely be secure. Only American citizens should vote. Every lawful ballot should be counted. Every eligible citizen should have the opportunity to vote. Those principles should unite every American.

But election security should not come at the expense of constitutional balance. We should be reluctant to transfer powers that have traditionally belonged to the states into the hands of the federal government. Once authority moves in one direction, history teaches us that it rarely moves back without a fight.

The question is not whether you trust today’s president.

The question is whether you want tomorrow’s president to inherit greater authority over the rules that determine who stays in power.

The American experiment has endured because we have never trusted government with unlimited authority, even when we trusted the elected representatives who held office.

Power belongs to the people.

Our elections should continue to reflect that principle.

Congress needs to reject the SAVE Act and preserve the constitutional balance that has protected American democracy for generations.

OP-ED written by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, candidate for Congressional District 24.

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