OPINION:
Faced with Democratic opposition over a national election integrity bill, House Republicans are upping the ante instead of reflexively making concessions.
They passed the SAVE Act in April by a vote of 220-208, with all Republicans voting yes and all but four Democrats voting no. That bill would require proof of citizenship for all new voter registrations.
Two of the Democrats who voted yes, Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, represent South Texas border districts. Mr. Cuellar said, “I supported this bill because I believe in something simple: Only American citizens should vote in American elections.”
The Senate never acted on it, which might turn out for the better.
A revamped version, the SAVE America Act (H.R. 7296), requires proof of citizenship for new voter registrations and mandates photo IDs for voting in person or obtaining mail-in ballots. It would also strengthen voter roll maintenance and tie some exemptions to states’ cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security.
The latter is important in light of Minnesota officials’ noncooperation with federal authorities who are investigating widespread welfare fraud and rounding up criminal illegal aliens.
Naturally, Democratic leaders have circled the wagons, with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York channeling President Biden and calling the new bill “Jim Crow 2.0.”
That’s an odd way to describe something supported by more than 80% of Americans, including huge majorities of Democrats, Blacks and Hispanics. By the way, after Georgia’s “Jim Crow” 2021 election reform bill was enacted, Georgia had record turnouts in the 2022 and 2024 elections, including among minorities. Not a whole lot of “voter suppression.”
The shameless Mr. Schumer says he will shut down the Senate with a filibuster rather than allow a floor vote on the SAVE America Act. A Pew Research poll in August found that 83% of Americans favor photo voter IDs, including 95% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats. More than 75% of Blacks favor it, along with 82% of Hispanics and 85% of Whites.
A Gallup Poll released in late 2024 found that 83% of Americans supported requiring proof of citizenship for first-time voter registration. One would think that something this popular would be a slam dunk, especially in a Senate controlled by Republicans.
The hitch is the Democrats’ filibuster threat to require 60 votes for passage. To get around that, Republicans could change the filibuster rule to force a genuine talkathon, like the one Jimmy Stewart did in the classic film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
So far, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, has demurred, saying such a strategy would tie up the floor for a long period and delay other bills.
So what? Nothing is more important than ensuring that America has free, honest elections determined only by American citizens. If it doesn’t, then the Democratic Party will make sure the entire nation morphs into a one-party state. They have done it in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and Minnesota, and they’re in the process of doing it in Virginia.
If Republicans — who control both houses of Congress, albeit by slim margins — cannot enact a bill that has 83% support, then they might want to do something else for a living.
Some Republicans worry, “If we do this filibuster thing, the Democrats will do this to us when they get back in power.” Guess what? The Democrats have shown they will do whatever they want anyway, regardless of how “nice” Republicans are to them.
Civility in politics has long been a one-way street. This is why so many voters turned to President Trump.
It’s not that they like Mr. Trump’s rude, all-caps, sometimes profane texts and propensity for naming things after himself. They want someone who cares enough to go to the mat for their values and pocketbooks.
Would most Republicans and independents prefer Ronald Reagan’s civility and grit? Sure. But they also would take someone who fights rather than the kind of Republican who excels at losing gracefully and hopes to someday garner a “strange new respect” article in The Washington Post.
Right now, however, Mr. Trump’s talk of “nationalizing” elections is not helping. It’s constitutionally suspect, and it distracts from the constitutionally sound goal of a national voter ID law. The media will happily conflate the two to sow confusion.
The new version of the bill, the SAVE America Act, sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican, may get a House vote this week, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is sponsoring a companion measure in the upper chamber.
Meanwhile, Democrats have released a list of demands to hobble federal enforcement against illegal immigration. These include prohibiting immigration agents from being near election polling places, which speaks volumes.
If the SAVE bill passes the House, the Senate should act swiftly to vote on it and, if need be, to change the filibuster rule. It would be instructive to watch Democrats thunder for hours against a wildly popular, commonsense measure to protect against vote fraud. The political ads write themselves.
• Robert Knight is a columnist for The Washington Times. His website is roberthknight.com.
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