The U.S. Senate is expected to take up the SAVE America Act this week, and Syracuse-area Congressmember John Mannion hopes it fails. The bill backed by President Trump and most Congressional Republicans requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot. Mannion, a Democrat, voted against the measure, which passed the House along party lines. He said it’s nothing more than a voter suppression bill.
“This is not just as simple as do I have a student ID card? Do I have a driver's license? It's much more that than that," Mannion said. "It's about ending mail-in ballots. The president has voted by mail. American citizens are the ones voting in these elections. Non-citizens are not voting.”
Mannion said there’s data to back that up. He added there’s also no evidence that elections in general are rife with fraud and mistakes.
“If you look around the country, special elections, off-year elections, primaries in both parties, you don't hear anything about voter fraud," he said. "So what this is an attempt to do, beyond the legislation, is to sow doubt into the minds of Americans that our elections are not working.”
Mannion said this clearly goes back to Trump’s refusal to accept that he lost the 2020 election. The SAVE America Act is expected to fail in the Senate unless a change is made to the filibuster, which requires 60 votes.
