Feckless Democrats stand for nothing

By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy's SAVE (Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility) America Act, legislation that's aimed at keeping noncitizens from voting in U.S. federal elections. 

All but one House Democrat – Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, – voted against the bill. It passed, 218-213.

It is an updated version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, also led by Roy, which passed the House in April 2025 but was not taken up in the Senate.

The SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters. The updated bill would also require a photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

While a majority of Americans – including Democrats, Republicans and Independents – support a photo ID as proof of citizenship, the House Democrats overwhelmingly rejected the idea. Why?

It's either because of their severe anti-Trump affliction or they realize an awful lot of noncitizens are likely to vote for the party that promises open borders and more freebies for illegals. (Probably both.)

Under the legislation, people would not be able to register to vote with only their driver's license, since noncitizens can obtain that. They would need to present documents proving U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate or U.S. passport. 

A birth certificate is required for Social Security benefits. Today, more than 73 million Americans receive monthly benefits from programs administered by the Social Security Administration, so it can't be that difficult. (For those of us born in Baltimore, Md. decades ago, we have birth "registrations" not certificates.)

“We require ID for everyday activities like buying cold medicine or boarding a flight. Voting should be no different,” U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., said. “It’s a common-sense step to protect confidence in our system.” I agree.

Without proof, Democrats called the legislation an act of voter suppression and Jim Crow 2.0, as Sen. Chuck Schumer likes to bloviate.

For brief background, the Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced by Democrats in the Southern U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation. Following the end of Reconstruction in 1877, Southern Democrats (often referred to as "Redeemers") regained control of state legislatures and introduced Jim Crow laws to enforce racial segregation and disenfranchise African Americans.

Of course, Schumer knows this. He's an idiot, true; but he's also aware that Jim Crow laws were his party's baby.

Georgia was the recent birthplace of “Jim Crow 2.0,” yet the Peach State smashed all voter turnout records after the GOP-backed Election Integrity Act was signed into law.

Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, in a letter to then-President Joe Biden, wrote in 2022: "We are writing to express our concerns with your false claims about election integrity legislation across the country. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you have even gone as far as to say states, like Georgia, have implemented 'Jim Crow 2.0' or 'Jim Crow in the 21st Century.' Further, you made specific claims about the early voting provisions in Georgia’s Election Integrity Act that earned you four Pinocchios from the (liberal) Washington Post.

"It is now without question that those statements have no basis in fact. In the interest of ensuring American voters may have confidence in elections processes and outcomes, we demand you immediately cease spreading election misinformation, rescind your previous statements, and apologize to the American public. Your statements ignore Georgia’s sovereign interest in upholding its constitutional duty to maintain accurate elections, as confirmed last year by the United States Supreme Court in a major decision against the Democratic National Committee. Your claims of voter suppression have turned out to be completely inaccurate. As you may know, Georgia has seen record-breaking early voter turnout this election, a key factor under the ever-important Voting Rights Act of 1965."

A majority of Americans actually support the voter ID measure. Polling has consistently shown strong majorities — including among Democrats, independents, Whites, Blacks and Latinos — support voter ID requirements.

• Pew Research Center: 83% of Americans favor requiring all voters to show government-issued photo ID to vote, including 95% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats. Just 16% of Americans are in opposition.

• Gallup: 84% of Americans support requiring photo ID to vote, including 98% of Republicans, 84% of independents, and 67% of Democrats. Separately, 83% support requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote for the first time.

Additional surveys, including from Napolitan News Service and The Center Square, consistently show extraordinary support for voter ID.

CNN reporter Harry Enten said: “The bottom line is this: Voter ID is NOT controversial in this country. A photo ID to vote is NOT controversial in this country. It is not controversial by party, and it is not controversial by race. The vast majority of Americans agree.”

But their chosen representatives in Congress don't care what their constituents want. Politicians know best, after all.

It’s well past time for Congress to act. The House did its job by getting the legislation to the Senate (again), but Schumer can be relied on to make this dead on arrival in the Senate.

And for the liberal pundits who clamor that the Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency, well, without 60 votes in the Senate, it just ain't so. Unless GOP leadership in the Senate tweaks filibuster rules – as many Republicans have recently advocated – the SAVE America Act is unlikely to become law due to the filibuster.

And many of us will remain suspicious about future elections.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.