Out in the Open, Dems Support Illegal Voting
Schumer likens Save Act to Jim Crow 2.0
When holding elections, Americans need to have confidence in the results. If there is confidence, the losing side will accept the outcome without question avoiding acrimony and division. In this regard, elections must be administered fairly, maintain high standards for accuracy and be limited to only those who are eligible to vote. Those who are not citizens should not be allowed to vote and those who are not eligible based on residency or other legal factors should be blocked from voting. Elections rules must be followed and not altered at the last minute by executive action in order to give one side an undue advantage. The administration of elections must be bipartisan and allow for full transparency. Over the past several election cycles, there have been cries of U.S. elections being rigged or stolen. This needs to be addressed by legislation.
Currently, only U.S. citizens are authorized to vote. This is one of the most precious benefits of citizenship afforded to those by birth (to parents who are lawfully present) or via naturalization. Many localities have either passed or attempted to authorize non-citizen voting in local elections for such positions as mayor, city council and school board. This effort in of itself undermines the benefits of citizenship, is unlawful and allows foreign nationals to influence the outcome of American elections. It also calls into question as to whether any firewall exists to prevent non-citizens from voting in federal elections. New York City passed a law to allow non-citizen voting which was ultimately struck down by New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals in a 6-1 ruling last year.
Understanding the need to ensure only citizens and those who are eligible to vote, the U.S. House of Representative passed the Safeguard American Vote Eligibility Act or Save Act. This legislation requires proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and voter ID. The basis for the legislation is simple, preventing non-citizens from voting and ensuring only those eligible are voting. Voter integrity groups and states have identified thousands of non-citizen voters in Texas, Alabama, Virginia and Michigan. Other states have identified non-citizens who have voted in U.S. elections. Unless voter rolls are matched against the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, many states cannot say for certain that their voter rolls do not include non-citizen voters. Furthermore, the U.S. Justice Department has sued various states to force states to clean up their voter rolls as required under the National Voter Registration Act. The act requires states to maintain updated voter rolls by removing those who have moved, died or who are inactive or ineligible to vote.
Currently, our election system is flawed as it lacks real election integrity. If the identity of voters cannot be accurately verified and their eligibility confirmed, the use of mail in ballots exponentially undermine elections. In 2005, the bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker James concluded, "Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud". Considering 43% of votes were cast by mail in ballots in 2020, significant concerns remain as to the integrity and accuracy of that election. The recent findings in Georgia, a state which former President Biden won in 2020 by a little over eleven thousand votes, reported significant discrepancies in the administration of that election. Fulton County admitted that it failed to adequately verify over 315,000 early vote ballots which were included in the final tally. In particular, Fulton county failed to sign the tapes for over 130 tabulator machines in which they were required to confirm the count began at zero and the vote totals match the number of ballots received. Georgia like many states in 2020, allowed mail in ballots due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Fulton County is one of the largest Democratic counties in Georgia. This is the same county which reported that counting ballots would be delayed due to a water main break at the State Farm arena.
The Save Act is currently pending in the U.S. Senate, however Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has called the Save Act Jim Crow 2.0 and has vowed to block passage of this vital legislation. The question is why? The current voting system fails to ensure integrity and accuracy which favors Democrats in large urban areas. The current system under federal law requires voters to only affirm they are U.S. citizens. This is insufficient as anyone can simply check off a box and vote. Voter ID is one of the strongest measures of verification to ensure integrity in U.S. elections by confirming a person's identity when voting. A significant number of countries worldwide require voter ID including the majority of Europe, Africa, many in Asia including India, in south America and even Mexico. The requirement to present ID for everything including travel, entering buildings and even returning merchandise is a staple of American life. In 2021, Georgia passed the Election Integrity Act which tightened voter ID standards. While Democrats criticized the legislation as an effort to suppress black voters, voter participation actually went up. Polling from CNN has shown significant support for voter ID across all groups; 85% of white voters, 82% of Latino voters and 76% of black voters support voter ID. 95% of Republicans support voter ID. Even 71% of Democrats support voter ID.
Its time for Democrats in the Senate to support election integrity and stop playing the race card. Having fair and honest elections benefit everyone. Majority Leader Thune (R-SD) will need to force Democrats to talk if they want to stage a filibuster versus a silent filibuster which just entails a vote. The Senate must restore confidence in our elections and say no to illegal voting. This critical legislation calls for it. Voters support it and reality requires it.