The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns election integrity and the SAVE America Act that the House of Representatives passed a week ago with unanimous Republican support and even one Democrat. This “bill would put in place basic election integrity requirements like providing proof of citizenship and photo ID to register and vote in federal elections.” The bill is currently in the U.S. Senate, where Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is leading the effort to get the bill passed and on President Donald Trump’s desk to sign.
Democrats partially shut down the government -- again -- and left our nation because they do not want secure elections. They put forth numerous claims – “mischaracterizations and even flat-out lies” – about the SAVE America Act, and Rebeka Zeljko debunks three of them.
1. ‘It’s already illegal!’
The
SAVE America Act aims to protect ballots from election fraud, particularly from
illegal aliens and noncitizens. Democrats are quick to point out that it is
already illegal for noncitizens to vote in elections, and those Democrats who
are willing to admit that noncitizens voting does occasionally happen insist it
takes place at a negligible rate.
This
is partially true. It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in American
elections, and when it does happen, estimates show it occurs less than 1% of
the time. But even if the rate is extremely low, it’s not zero. And while many
elections are decisive victories, some are decided by razor-thin margins,
making every ballot count….
2. ‘Jim Crow 2.0’
Democrats
are no stranger to playing the race card, claiming that requiring photo ID
somehow unfairly affects minorities. Perhaps most notable of them all is Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who unabashedly likened the SAVE Act
to Jim Crow-era rules.
“I
have said it before and I’ll say it again, the SAVE Act would impose Jim Crow
type laws to the entire country and is dead on arrival in the Senate,” Schumer
said in a statement earlier this month. “It is a poison pill that will kill any
legislation that it is attached to. If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to
the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump
government shutdown.”
Apart
from Schumer’s soft bigotry of low expectations, his claim is simply
inaccurate. The SAVE America Act offers a wide range of acceptable documents to
prove citizenship, including a valid U.S. passport, a REAL ID that indicates
citizenship, a U.S. military identification card that shows birthplace in the
U.S., a birth certificate or other equivalent naturalization documents, and
even some tribal IDs like the American Indian card.
Presenting
a photo ID is also already a requirement to vote in some states as well as for
countless other activities and purchases, including boarding a plane and casting
a vote as a member of Congress….
3. ‘It’s an attack on women!’
Another
claim Democrats have repeatedly made is that the new requirements
disproportionately impact women who have changed their names after marriage.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said that the name change “creates
a real problem” for her, implying that the legislation is the GOP’s latest
attempt to suppress women’s votes.
The
absurdity of Warren’s claim is self-evident. Married women often obtain
documentation with their new names for other processes that require identification,
such as purchasing alcohol or opening a bank account. In additional, women are
not limited to producing birth certificates, but also may provide other forms
of acceptable ID, such as a passport or a REAL ID.
Even
in the rare case that a woman’s ID is not updated with her new legal name, the
SAVE America Act explicitly allows for name changes in documentation. The
legislation requires states to establish fallback procedures for voters who
have changed their names due to marriage, divorce, adoption, or another reason.
The reality is that none of the proposed requirements are novel or restrictive. They are simply common sense.
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