By Senator Marsha Blackburn
Support for fair, secure, and open elections should be a bipartisan issue. In fact, 83 percent of Americans, including 71 percent of Democrat voters, support photo ID requirements to vote. We have to show ID to pick up a prescription, board a flight, or check in for a doctor’s appointment. Why should voting—the most vital institution in our representative system of government—be any different?
When it comes to this critical issue, however, Democrats are once again putting the interests of their radical left base over the American people.
Last week, all but one House Democrat voted against the SAVE America Act, commonsense legislation that would require individuals to present a photo ID to cast a ballot and proof of citizenship to register to vote. In addition, it would require states to remove non-citizens from voter rolls. These provisions would ensure that only American citizens vote in American elections, preserving confidence in election results.
Although the legislation ultimately passed the House despite Democrat opposition, Senate Democrats are now vowing to block the bill in the upper chamber. In a fact-free speech last week on the Senate floor, Democrat Leader Schumer (N.Y.) even called the SAVE America Act “Jim Crow 2.0.”
By opposing the SAVE America Act, Democrats are making clear that they want to make it easier to cheat and to enable fraudsters and non-citizens to cast illegal ballots in our elections.
Although it is illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, 14 states—which are overwhelmingly blue—do not require any documentation whatsoever to vote in elections, including California, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, and New Jersey. Another 12 states do not require photo ID to cast a ballot. States such as California, Hawaii, and New York, meanwhile, fail to take basic steps to ensure accurate voter registration lists, including by comparing voter rolls with Social Security Administration death records.
Illegal voting is not a hypothetical issue. Across the country, the Heritage Foundation has documented hundreds of instances of proven election fraud. Just in October, Texas discovered more than 2,700 potential non-citizens on its voter rolls using the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, which verifies an individual’s immigration status. That same month, Ohio uncovered more than 1,000 potential non-citizens registered to vote in the state. In recent years, Governor Youngkin (R.) removed more than 6,000 non-citizens from Virginia’s voter rolls.
It’s important to note that it is state Republican leaders who are leading these efforts to secure elections and determine the number of non-citizens on voter rolls. Tennessee, for example, leads the nation with election integrity measures by enforcing voter photo ID, accurate registration lists, and verification of citizenship.
By comparison, we can only imagine how many non-citizens are on voter rolls in California and New York, which refuse to verify voters’ citizenship with the SAVE database and are home to more than 3.5 million illegal aliens combined.
Instead of enabling fraud, Democrats should stand with the American people in support of fair, honest, and transparent elections. It is time to pass the SAVE America Act and send this vital legislation to President Trump’s desk.
