Why we’re not falling for Democrats’ voter-ID hysteria

Top Democrats are breathing fire over the SAVE America Act, an updated version of the voter-ID legislation that’s passed the House twice and is headed for another floor vote this week.

But for all their furious rhetoric, they haven’t come close to convincing Americans that it’s a grievous wrong to ask voters to prove their eligibility before they cast a ballot.

Not even members of their own party.

Chuck Schumer, Jeffries’ Senate counterpart, claims voter ID laws are “Jim Crow 2.0.” AP

An overwhelming majority of the American people, 83%, are in favor of voter ID, Pew Research has found — including 71% of Democrats themselves.

No matter: The SAVE America Act is “blatant voter suppression,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries attests.

But when pressed on exactly how it’s cheating to make sure only Americans can vote, he’s got nothing.

Chuck Schumer, Jeffries’ Senate counterpart, claims voter ID laws are “Jim Crow 2.0.”

Yet he can’t explain how black Americans, who are perfectly capable of showing ID to drive, use a credit card, buy alcohol and attain housing, would be disenfranchised by having to show ID to vote as well.

No, there’s only one reason to oppose a bill that requires photo identification and proof of citizenship before voting in federal elections.

What was once tin-foil-hat conspiracy theorizing is now the only logical answer: Democrats want to open the door wide for non-citizen voting, and to make secure elections impossible.

Lax ID laws make it a lot easier to engage in fraud, such as stuffing ballot boxes or using late-arriving ballots to shift election outcomes after the polls have already closed.

If that’s not what Democrats want, why can’t they give any good reasons for keeping our elections so prone to abuse?

All they have is bluster and double-talk.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) imagines voter ID will disenfranchise women who take their husband’s name upon marriage, because one more piece of paperwork would be just too much for the poor dears to handle.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is cool with ID — but only to enter his campaign events, which require identification at the door. 

Somehow he thinks his constituents will have no problem getting ID if they want access to a political event, but can’t produce one to exercise their political rights.

They all sound as ridiculous as Kamala Harris did when she said it would be “impossible” for rural voters to “prove who they are” because they don’t have access to copy machines. 

The integrity of our entire voting system cannot hinge on these nonsensical excuses.

The SAVE America Act offers commonsense provisions to make sure American federal elections are fair and clean.

It requires all voters to show photo ID before casting a ballot. 

It requires them to prove US citizenship when registering to vote.

It does away with mail-in voting — except in cases of illness, disability, military deployment or travel.

And that may be the biggest factor sending Democrats into a tizzy.

In April 2020, with COVID-19 lockdowns in their second month, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed to expand mail-in voting, claiming it was necessary to protect people’s health.

Ever since, Americans have watched states tinker with their mail-in balloting rules, including accepting ballots dated after Election Day — or not dated at all.

And even as Democrats demanded things like “COVID passports” to verify who had gotten the jab, they railed against voter ID.

Democrats believe that “free and fair” elections means “loosely monitored” elections. 

In Minnesota, anyone can “vouch” for up to eight other people at the polls, allowing them to register and vote that same day without proof of identity or residency. 

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law barring any city in the state from implementing its own voter-ID rules.

Washington state Democrats are pushing to allow online voting, expanding its already all-mail-in voting system.

In these states and others, Democrats balk at any sensible voting regulations, apparently believing that polling places, just like the border, should be a free-for-all that accepts all comers, whether they belong there or not. 

So it makes a warped kind of sense that Democrats are also insisting this week, as they threaten yet another partial government shutdown, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers must not be permitted near polling places, for fear of “voter intimidation.”

Why citizens exercising their right to vote would be intimidated by the sight of immigration agents is something they never bother explaining.

Iconoclastic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is one brave Democrat who says voter ID laws are “not Jim Crow or anything.”

“It’s not unreasonable to show ID just to vote,” he notes.

He’s right. 

The only way to ensure American elections are free and fair is to make sure that those who cast ballots are eligible to do so.

Libby Emmons is the editor-in-chief at the Post Millennial.