OPINION:
Just about everybody in America thinks voters ought to show identification before they receive a ballot. A Gallup survey last year found that the public embraces the idea by a whopping 84% margin, and an equal number think it makes sense to check a prospective elector’s citizenship.
It’s only the Democrats on Capitol Hill who resist setting reasonable ground rules. Gallup’s pollsters didn’t capture this dynamic because they didn’t question the campaign strategists who realize fair elections would be detrimental to the party’s ongoing existence.
Despite having more than 3 out of 4 Americans on their side, Republicans face an uphill battle to get their legislative package, the SAVE Act, to the president’s desk. The bill implements voter ID and cleans up the voter rolls. Mail-in voting would be available only to people who have established their legal right to cast a ballot. State registrars would have to kick noncitizens off registration lists.
House Republicans passed the SAVE Act last year and are poised to do so again, but the path ahead is uncertain. Liberals intend to jam the Senate to ensure this solution never makes its way out of the upper chamber, as they have done in the past. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is cagey about his intentions.
“The coin of the realm in the Senate is floor time. There’s a finite amount of it, and we have a lot of things we have to do,” the South Dakota Republican told reporters off the Senate floor last week. “We will vote on the SAVE Act, but exercising or triggering a talking filibuster has ramifications, implications that I think everyone needs to be aware of.”
Conservatives such as Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, have been urging Mr. Thune to ditch the practice of allowing the minority party to secure the benefits of a filibuster by mustering only 41 votes. That’s not a high bar when Democrats have 47 members.
Mr. Lee wants to expose Democratic senators by forcing them to speak around the clock in defense of their unpopular, free-for-all election schemes. Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, has said there is no way he would do that. He will vote for the SAVE Act because the alternative is widespread fraud.
Even barely functional countries understand this. Somalia’s National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission introduced voter ID last year, explaining: “A robust, accurate, and regularly updated voter register is not only desirable; it is a prerequisite for maintaining electoral integrity and ensuring that all eligible votes are fairly counted, respected, and meaningfully contribute to the outcomes of future elections.”
Although Republicans are annoyed that we can’t do something so basic, Mr. Thune’s caution isn’t unreasonable. The procedural filibuster is just as useful at blocking liberal Republicans from teaming up with Democrats to renew Obamacare subsidies or cause similar mischief. Moreover, the Department of Homeland Security’s funding runs expires Saturday, and he doesn’t want to jeopardize the delicate negotiations needed to avoid a mini-shutdown.
On the other hand, stopping election swindles must take top billing on the agenda. Democrats claim foreign nationals don’t participate in our election process, and then they turn around and grant the franchise to noncitizens for city elections in the District of Columbia.
This summer, a bill repealing the District’s noncitizen voting ordinance cleared the House on a 266-148 vote, with 56 Democrats voting yes. Even so, the measure went nowhere in the Senate. That’s the problem. Reform is needed, and the current way of doing things is hazardous to the health of our republic.
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