Sen. Ron Johnson on the SAVE Act and Election Security

The SAVE Act and Voter Citizenship

• 🇺🇸 The SAVE Act aims to ensure that only United States citizens can register to vote.
• 🔑 Senator Mike Lee has added a voter ID requirement at the point of voting to the bill.
• 🎯 These measures are supported by a significant majority of Americans across the political spectrum, who want to prevent fraudulent votes from canceling legitimate ones.

Opposition and Election Security Concerns

• 🚫 Democrats, particularly Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have labeled these measures as "Jim Crow 2.0," a characterization Senator Johnson deems ridiculous and an abomination.
• 🗳️ Johnson argues that Democrats oppose these security measures because they want to make it easy to cheat in elections as a strategy to maintain power.
• 📈 Concerns are raised about practices like automatic registration and widespread mail-in ballots, especially in states like California, which are seen as making fraud easy to commit and difficult to detect.

Federal vs. State Control of Elections

• ⚖️ While Senator Johnson believes states should primarily control their elections, he advocates for basic national standards, such as requiring proof of citizenship and voter ID.
• ✉️ He points to the Baker-Carter Commission's findings that absentee ballots pose the greatest threat of fraud, noting the increase in their use during COVID-19.
• ✅ Republicans aim to make it easy to vote but difficult to cheat, ensuring that legitimate votes are not invalidated by fraudulent ones.

The Filibuster and Legislative Strategy

• 🗣️ Regarding the filibuster, Senator Johnson stated his belief that Democrats will eventually eliminate it and suggested Republicans should be prepared to do the same, but only for the benefit of the American public.
• ⏳ The status of the SAVE Act on Capitol Hill is unclear, with discussions around potential procedural maneuvers to pass it.