Tag: voter id

Legal group exposes heavy use of Minnesota’s ‘vouching’ system to override voting ID rules

America First Legal, a conservative legal group, has obtained records from the Minnesota Secretary of State showing thousands of Minnesotans used the state’s “vouching” system to bypass voter ID while registering or updating their information during recent election cycles.

The records, which were obtained through a public records request, showed that Minnesota’s Election Day Registration process allows registered voters or certain residential facility employees to verify another voter’s residency in place of standard identification or proof-of-address documents.

Minnesota law reportedly allows a registered voter from the same precinct or an authorized employee of a residential facility to confirm another individual’s residency for voting purposes if that person lacks traditional documentation in-person at the polls.

According to the data released by AFL, almost 18,900 Election Day registrations in 2024 involved the use of vouching. 

Of those, 13,441 were updates to existing voter registrations, while 5,457 involved new voter registrations.

The records also showed 10,278 voter registrations or updates using vouching during the 2022 election cycle, including 2,215 new registrations. 

In 2020, the state recorded 17,616 vouched-for Election Day registrations or updates, including 5,069 new registrations, the data showed.

AFL said it tried to get more information from the secretary of state’s office, including data showing whether voters were vouched for by private citizens or residential facility employees, lists of authorized facility staff, and records involving alleged fraudulent or suspicious activity connected to the system.

According to AFL, the secretary of state’s office responded that it “does not record or maintain data on vouching method,” and in several categories replied that there was “no data responsive” to the request.

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Senate Republicans Defy Trump and Shelve Voter ID Bill

It seems that no one is coming to rescue the SAVE Act.

Weeks after Donald Trump stressed to his party that passing that voter restriction bill was the “most important thing” they could do, Senate Republicans have shelved the legislation entirely, unable to bypass the Democratic filibuster that stands in the way of its potential passage, Punchbowl News reported Thursday.

Republicans have tried and failed to pass the SAVE Act multiple times. The latest iteration suggested numerous amendments to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, including line items that would have abolished mail-in voting, required voters to bring proof of citizenship and proof of residency to register to vote, required voter ID, and mandated voter roll purges every 30 days—an enormous bureaucratic task that would have placed undue burdens on local election officials.

Nonetheless, Trump demanded that his caucus figure it out. In March, Trump insisted that the bill would “guarantee the midterms,” and that there would be “big trouble” if Republicans failed to force it through Congress. The president also said that the SAVE Act was such a tremendous priority that it “supersedes everything else,” threatening to veto all other bills until the SAVE Act made it to his desk.

But a lot can change in two months. Now, even the bill’s most ardent proponents are viewing the SAVE Act as a lost cause, pointing to vote-a-rama held in the Senate last month that failed to get even 50 votes in support of the bill, with four Republicans joining Democrats in their opposition.

Tabling the SAVE Act is expected to anger the party’s base, and could spark renewed calls to scrap the filibuster—something that the bulk of the GOP, and especially its leadership, does not want to do. The issue has raised tensions between Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has thus far resisted Trump’s pleas to ax the long-standing, minority-power rule.

“I completely understand my colleagues who want to maintain the filibuster. We all want to maintain the filibuster, honestly,” Republican Senator Ron Johnson told Punchbowl. “But I know the Democrats won’t. That’s the only division here.”

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RINO JOHN THUNE STABS AMERICA IN THE BACK YET AGAIN: Refuses CBDC Ban in ANY Legislation, Declares “NO SAVE AMERICA”

Another day, another warning sign from the Washington establishment.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has reportedly will BLOCK a permanent ban on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in ANY legislation the House sends over, and also “No SAVE America.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), one of the few true fighters left in Congress, dropped this bombshell warning to the nation on X:

“Attention America: John Thune has said he will not support a CBDC ban in any of the legislation we send over. He also has said No Save America.”

This comes as House are desperately trying to protect the American people from the coming CBDC surveillance nightmare.

A Central Bank Digital Currency would give the corrupt Federal Reserve and the Democrat deep state the power to track every transaction you make, freeze your accounts if you buy a gun or attend a Trump rally, and turn the United States into a totalitarian digital prison state.

This is the same technology the Chinese Communist Party uses to enslave its people, and Thune is rolling out the red carpet for it.

As The Gateway Pundit has exhaustively reported in recent weeks, Thune has already proven himself a spineless sellout on the SAVE America Act, the critical legislation to require proof of U.S. citizenship and photo ID to vote, stopping the Democrat illegal voting machine cold.

Just days ago, we exposed how Thune STABBED TRUMP AND AMERICA IN THE BACK by refusing to nuke the filibuster to pass the SAVE Act, telling reporters “That’s not going to happen.”

He mocked the massive grassroots pressure campaign as nothing but “propaganda by paid influencers.” After a two-week recess, he reportedly dropped the bill entirely, prompting Rep. Luna to expose Thune on X who is “no longer considering the SAVE America Act.”

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Republicans fail to attach SAVE America Act to party-line funding package

A cohort of Senate Republicans joined Democrats to sink a late-night attempt to attach a version of voter ID and citizenship verification legislation to the GOP’s bill funding federal immigration enforcement.

Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all voted against a modified version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act early Thursday morning.

Their defection came during the Senate’s marathon “vote-a-rama,” where lawmakers could force votes on any number of amendments, regardless of whether they mesh with the underlying budget blueprint.

The amendment’s 48-to-50 failure crystallized what several Republicans had warned for weeks before launching a quasi-floor takeover to debate the SAVE America Act last month — it didn’t have the support among the GOP to pass.

It appears the proposal was doomed even if Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., launched an oral filibuster to advance the measure with a simple 50-vote majority.

Still, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pushed his version of the SAVE America Act after threatening to hold up the process until Thursday.

Kennedy acknowledged that his effort may not comport with the strict Senate rules that guide the reconciliation process, known as the Byrd Rule, but countered that critics of his move “can’t predict the future.”

“I respect everybody in this body, everybody,” Kennedy said on the Senate floor. “If you vote against this bill, I’m not going to say a word. And I’m sure as hell not going to go on social media and call you an ignorant slut. That’s not the way I roll, unless I’m pushed too far.”

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These 4 States Already Enacted SAVE Act Look-Alikes While John Thune Does Failure Theater

While the SAVE America Act continues to languish in the Senate under the supervision of Republican Leader John Thune, leaders and voters in several states have taken it upon themselves to secure their own elections from noncitizen voting.

The overwhelmingly popular SAVE America Act would amend U.S. election law to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and voter ID when casting a ballot in federal elections. Federal lawmakers in the GOP-led Senate have yet to advance the common-sense legislation or commit to a “talking filibuster” that would allow it to pass with a simple majority. Meanwhile, within recent weeks, several states enacted their own citizenship verification election laws. Others are set to vote on amendment language clarifying that “only” U.S. citizens can vote in elections.

Already Law

Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s own version of the SAVE Act into law last week. The law, which requires citizenship verification against REAL ID data when registering to vote, will go into effect in January of next year.

According to DeSantis’ office, the law also allows applicants to present proof confirming their eligibility, “establishes a clear process to identify and remove potentially ineligible noncitizens from voter rolls,” includes “explicit notice that submitting false voter registration information is a felony,” and mandates voting take place on paper ballots.

The state has adopted a number of election reforms since 2020, including stronger vote-by-mail safeguards, more secure ballot drop boxes, and stricter enforcement of election law, as DeSantis’ office noted.

Mississippi

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also signed election integrity legislation into law last week. Named the Safeguard Honesty Integrity in Elections for Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act, the law requires registration officials to check certain applicants’ information against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to determine if they are citizens. This verification is required for registration applicants who are flagged as potential noncitizens or who do not provide their driver’s license number when registering to vote. As in Florida, if an applicant is determined to be a potential noncitizen, he will be given a chance to present documentation that proves citizenship.

The law also requires the registrar to annually report to the secretary of state “[t]he number of registrants flagged by a SAVE system check” and the number taken off the rolls “following confirmation.”

This law will take effect in July, ahead of the 2026 midterms.

South Dakota

Ironically, Thune’s own state has moved faster than he has when it comes to ensuring only Americans vote in American elections. Gov. Larry Rhoden signed South Dakota’s SB 175 into law last month. According to SDPB Radio, the legislation “requires anyone registering to vote for the first time in the state to provide proof of citizenship,” like a driver’s license issued after July 1, 2025 (the state recently enacted a law mandating that citizenship status be denoted on driver’s licenses), or a copy of a birth certificate.

“In South Dakota, we do things right, especially when running our state elections,” Rhoden said in a statement. “This bill ensures only citizens vote in state elections, keeping our elections safe and secure.”

This law went into effect immediately.

Utah

Gov. Spencer Cox signed Utah’s HB 209 into law late last month, and it is set to take effect on May 6 — more than a month before the state’s primary election. The law requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote in state elections. If an applicant registers to vote using a “federal voter registration form” and does not provide documentary proof of citizenship as laid out in the law, that voter can only vote in federal races.

The law also dictates that “a review of voter registration records be conducted by July 1 this year,” as Time summarized it. Voters who are already registered but “whose citizenship cannot be verified in that review will be notified by election officials and have to provide proof of citizenship to stay on the rolls.”

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An Obama-Appointed Judge Might Have Delivered a Huge Blow to Dems’ Anti-Voter ID Pushes

While Congress is working out ways to fund the Department of Homeland Security, the core principles of the SAVE America Act are next. With the Democratic Party’s intransigence, there’s talk of including some of these provisions in a future reconciliation package, which will also fund ICE and Border Patrol—frontline officers are getting paid, but the civilian support staff is not right now. The issue surrounding voter ID is over: everyone supports it. 

Overall, the Save Act has a 71 percent approval rating from a Harvard poll. On voter ID specifically, it holds similar approval figures across the board. It’s been that way since the Obama administration. It’s a popular policy that some Democrats have labeled Jim Crow 2.0. Well, in North Carolina, years of litigation have been settled on that state’s voter ID law, and it’s not good for Democrats. Oh, and this ruling was handed down by an Obama-appointed judge.

A federal judge has upheld North Carolina’s voter identification law nearly two years after holding a trial in a lawsuit challenging the ID requirement. The same judge had blocked the law from taking effect for the 2020 election cycle. 

Her initial ruling against voter ID helped delay implementation of the ID law until 2023. 

State lawmakers approved the ID law in 2018 after voters approved a state constitutional amendment enshrining voter ID in North Carolina’s governing document.

“Finally. After seven years, we can put to rest any doubt that our state’s Voter I.D. law is constitutional,” state Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said in a prepared statement Thursday. “This is a monumental win for the citizens of North Carolina and election integrity efforts.” 

“[It is important that this Court begins by recognizing what this case is, and what it is not,” US District Judge Loretta Biggs in her 134-page order Thursday. “This case is not about whether North Carolina law will require that voters show photo identification when they go to the polls. That question was settled on November 6, 2018, when approximately 55% of North Carolina’s registered voters enshrined a photo voter identification requirement in the State Constitution.” 

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Democrats Kill Simple Voter ID Amendment Requiring Photo ID to Cast a Ballot

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a common-sense amendment that would have required voters to show a simple photo ID to cast a ballot.

Despite Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s recent “pinky-promise” that Democrats aren’t actually opposed to ID requirements, his party voted in lockstep to kill the measure, according to CBS News.

The amendment failed to reach the 60-vote threshold, dying in a 53 to 47 vote. The radical Left once again chose to keep the door wide open for potential fraud.

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BEYOND PARODY: Connecticut Democrats Pass Bill Requiring Photo ID to RECYCLE CANS But Won’t Support the SAVE America Act

Democrats in the state of Connecticut oppose the SAVE America Act because they don’t support the idea of having to show a photo ID in order to vote, but they recently passed a law in the state that requires photo ID to recycle aluminum cans.

You could not make this up.

Like some other states, Connecticut gives a ten cent return on empty containers instead of five cents, so people have been crossing into the state to recycle there and cash in on the higher return. The fix for this was photo ID.

But they won’t do this for voting.

FOX News reports:

Connecticut Dems demand IDs to recycle cans but reject GOP efforts to verify citizenship at polls

Connecticut Democrats recently rushed through an emergency anti-fraud law requiring bottle redemption centers to collect a copy of a person’s driver’s license when they cash in more than 1,000 cans or bottles in a day — a document demand that Republicans say undercuts the party’s attacks on voter-ID rules.

Earlier this month, an emergency certification bill, SB 299, was introduced by top Democratic leaders in the state’s legislature. It was later passed in both chambers in late February and was signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, on March 3.

It requires people wishing to recycle cans for money to present a copy of their driver’s license, put in place because the state has had issues with non-residents crossing its border to take advantage of its higher return rate of 10 cents a can instead of five cents. The issue was reportedly causing the state to lose significant revenue…

“In Connecticut, it seems that they are committed to securing recycling, but not to securing elections,” said Anna Pingel, America First Policy Institute’s Campaign Director for Secure Elections. “Requiring photo ID to collect cash from recycling but opposing photo ID to cast a vote tells you everything you need to know about the hypocrisy of politicians fighting against commonsense legislation like the SAVE Act. What is more important to safeguard—bottles or ballots?”

Both of Connecticut’s senators voted against the SAVE America Act.

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Democrat Is Shocked to Learn CA Bans Voter ID Requirements

In a conversation with Representative Kevin Kiley (R-CA), a Democrat, and ESPN analyst, Stephen A. Smith was shocked to learn that not only does the state of California not have any voter ID requirements for its elections, but it has even barred counties from imposing their own ID rules.

“I think the fact that we don’t have voter ID in places like California is extremely unusual in democracies across the globe,” Kiley said. “There’s maybe like two or three democracies in the world that don’t have it. This is just kind of like a administrative requirement in a well-functioning democracy. So I think we should just have it. We should get this out and move on with our lives. It shouldn’t be a big controversial issue.”

“It’s excuse me for being so ignorant, this is definitely my last question,” Smith replied. “What do you mean you don’t have voter ID in California. Could you please elaborate specifically on that for my audience that may not know?”

“Yeah, California does not have voter ID,” Rep. Kiley replied. “You don’t need to present it to register. You don’t need to present it to vote. As a matter of fact, the past, the state passed a law forbidding voter ID so, so cities, counties… “

“Forbidding?!” Smith exclaimed.

“They’re not allowed to under state law.”

“What, when did that happen?!”

“A couple of years ago? Because I think it was Orange County. They wanted to have their own requirements of the state passed a law saying, no, you’re not allowed to you,” Kiley said. “Voter ID is not only not required. It is actively forbidden.”

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Top Democrat Accidentally Reveals What Her Party Really Fears in the SAVE Act

Republicans successfully brought the SAVE America Act to the Senate floor for debate on Tuesday, and Democrats sure do sound like they’re in full panic mode. The talking points were predictable, and we’ve heard them all before — the usual accusations of disenfranchisement, minorities unable to get IDs, married women losing access to the ballot, and their new favorite line about getting passports. Bogus fear-mongering, all of it. These concerns are literally all addressed in the text of the bill itself. So what’s the real reason they’re opposing it?

I’ve always said it’s because Democrats rely on fraudulent votes for power. That’s also the reason why the provisions of the SAVE America Act are widely popular, save for with Democrats in Congress. They won’t say that, of course, but Sen. Patty Murray actually let the cat out of the bag on the Senate floor.

First, let’s be clear about what this bill actually does. The SAVE America Act requires a photo ID to vote and proof of citizenship to register to vote. That’s it. There is literally nothing controversial about this.

Yet, Murray took to the floor and said, “Just consider all the people who will face new challenges just to vote, for no good reason. If you are a student who just moved to start college, Republicans will make it harder for you to vote because if this bill passes, you will need to show a photo ID and proof of citizenship in every single state, but a student ID won’t count. Many tribal IDs also won’t be enough under the new Republican restrictions.”

Read that again slowly.

Murray’s great concern is that students won’t be able to vote using their college IDs. But here’s the thing — domestic students who attend school out of state are not voting residents of that state, just because they go to school there. They are still residents of wherever home is. I grew up in Massachusetts and went to college in Connecticut, but I didn’t officially move to Connecticut. I didn’t register to vote there. When elections came, I voted absentee. That’s how it works, that’s how it has always worked, and it is entirely legal and straightforward. No student needs to vote in the state where his or her college is located, unless he or she literally goes through the process of changing his/her residency. The scenario Murray is describing isn’t a suppression crisis — it’s a thing that shouldn’t be happening at all.

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