Suddenly, Democrats are against ‘nationalizing’ elections
The SAVE America Act, which would require voters to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote, is currently pending in the United States Senate. The act also would require voters to present identification each time the voter casts a ballot. According to Gallup, 83 percent of Americans back the proof-of-citizenship requirement to register, and 84 percent support presenting a photo ID in order to vote. Currently, the only U.S. Senate Democrat who supports the measure is Pennsylvania’s own John Fetterman. With only 53 Republicans in the Senate, six additional Democrats would have to vote to override a filibuster to bring the bill to a final up-or-down vote. Given the histrionics and hyperventilating that have become commonplace in Washington on every piece of legislation, it is unlikely this bill will move any time soon.
The Democratic political class is desperate to make the SAVE America Act fail. This position is in direct contradiction to the broad public support proof of citizenship and voter ID commands nationwide, including in their own party. According to Gallup, nearly two out of three registered Democrats and 84 percent of independents support the act. In a time when mail-in voting, drop-boxes, and slow tabulation have been undermining confidence in our elections, the measure should have bipartisan support among legislators, as it does among voters generally.
The voter registration requirements of the SAVE America Act are not onerous. When registering with a local board of elections, the voter needs to present either a REAL ID, United States passport, military identification card, or another government issued photo ID, along with a copy of a birth certificate. If the person has changed names, a copy of supporting documentation such as a marriage certificate or court order would suffice. Once the individual is registered, the voter need only present a valid government photo ID like a driver’s license, passport, military ID, or other government issued photo ID. The bill provides for provisional balloting and alternate methods to establish citizenship at registration.
The best argument Democrats have come up with in defending their politically unpopular position is that the SAVE America Act will “nationalize” elections. Governor Josh Shapiro (D- Pennsylvania [Avenue?]) has vowed he will protect Pennsylvanians from federal overreach, nationalizing elections, and… Donald Trump, of course. Suddenly, Shapiro, who had previously supported impositions on state authority such as Obamacare and redefining marriage and gender, has become a states rights advocate.
Shapiro is right in some ways. Throughout most of American history, states have controlled the means and methods for conducting elections. In Pennsylvania, the legislature has promulgated the election code, and county boards of elections maintain the registration rolls and conduct elections. In most counties, including Bucks County, the Board of Elections consists of the county commissioners. If a member of the Board of Commissioners is running for office, that commissioner is typically replaced by a Court of Common Pleas judge.
The United States Constitution gives the power to the conduct of elections to the state legislatures, and Congress has the right to make or alter the rules in the case of congressional elections. Shapiro has expressed no concerns with other laws that “nationalize” elections such as the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, or the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
HAVA was passed in the wake of the 2000 presidential election voting controversy when George W. Bush won Florida, and the presidency, by about 500 votes. The act caused Bucks County to replace all of its mechanical voting machines with push-button electronic machines. Presumably, Shapiro, who was a staffer for U.S. Representative Joe Hoeffel (D-PA) at the time, did not object to this expensive federal mandate for counties to change their voting machines. Likewise, while he was state attorney general, he was silent when a federal court effectively ordered every Pennsylvania county to change its voting machines once again to have paper ballots as part of a settlement of a lawsuit brought by failed Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.
Interestingly, county commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia (D), Bob Harvie (D), and Gene DiGirolamo (R) have not publicly weighed in on the act. Harvie, who is running for Congress, has no official position on the act on his campaign website. As a county commissioner for over six years, one would think he would have insight into how the bill would affect how elections are run at the county level. A cynic might conclude that he knows the bill is commonsense, popular, and pragmatic.
National Democratic opposition to this bill largely surrounds the argument that people of color can’t get an acceptable ID, and that married women can’t figure out how to document their name changes. The argument reeks of the soft bigotry of low expectations, showing contempt for the intelligence and basic capabilities of minorities and women. Instead of supporting an easy manner to ensure the integrity of our elections, Democrats would prefer to presume large swaths of voters are too enfeebled to present an identification. When asked how these same individuals can receive public benefits, pick up a prescription, fly on a plane, or enter a federal building, Democrats are silent. It’s almost as if they don’t care.
Don Petrille is an attorney and served as Bucks County’s register of wills from 2012 until 2020.
