Democrats Totally Have Better Ideas On Voter ID Or Something

Per the always barking moonbat Ed Kilgore

Democrats need a better answer on voter ID. Here’s one.

Donald Trump’s incessant crusade for the immediate enactment of the SAVE America Act is very likely to fail — thanks to a Senate Democratic filibuster that a crucial number of Senate Republicans refuse to kill. The bill’s proponents keep dishonestly insisting that the legislation just requires voter ID. In fact, its explicit aim is to require extensive proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, not just identification at the polls or accompanying mail ballots. But the SAVE impasse will likely strengthen the grip of Trump-fed conspiracy theories about Democrats needing illegal votes to win, at least among Republicans and perhaps even some swing voters. Concerns about vote integrity probably aren’t going to go away, whether they’re justified or not.

Well, yeah, that’s kind of the point, to keep foreigners from voting in our elections. Why are Democrats against that?

Democrats are fully justified in saying not just “no” but “hell no” to Trump’s demands. But their own political interests might be better served by finding a way to support or even counterpropose the simple voter ID requirements that Americans (including big majorities of Democrats) overwhelmingly support.

What’s the point of voter ID except to keep people who shouldn’t be voting from voting? Mostly because they are foreigners, but, in some cases because they aren’t who they say they are.

Americans also support voting-law reforms that Democrats typically favor. A major Pew survey in 2025 showed 80 percent favor the universal availability of two weeks of early in-person voting; 74 percent favor making Election Day a national holiday; 66 favor restoring voting rights for ex-felons; 59 percent favor automatic voter registration of all eligible voters; 58 percent favor a universal right to vote by mail; and 58 percent favor allowing people to register to vote on Election Day.

I’m not going to get down into the party breakdowns in this, but, I would support the 1st two. But, if it is 2 weeks, it is 2 weeks only. No more.

[R]equiring photo identification to vote has preponderant public support, and, with a reasonable list of acceptable documents, is unlikely to be a deal-breaker for Democrats. In return, Democrats probably couldn’t ask Republicans to require no-excuse mail balloting in every state (given how Trump’s obsessive hostility to it has permeated the party). But with voter ID as the sweetener, there might be some Republicans willing to accept other widely popular 2021 ideas such as nationwide automatic and same-day registration, guaranteed early voting and rights restoration for the formerly incarcerated.

So, that’s the big “better” idea.

Best of all, a deal that includes a modest voter ID requirement without onerous proof of citizenship could outflank Republicans on their most popular election-reform idea and rebut the presumption that Democrats want loosey-goosey voter rolls just like Trump claims.

In other words, the GOP gets a seriously watered down version of voter ID that will make no difference, and Democrats get to keep felons and foreigners on the voting rolls. Of course, it is 2026, and, despite there being more than enough Squishes in the GOP like always, enough “get along go alongs”, the Democrats are so extreme and unhinged that they wouldn’t even be able to try this kind of claptrap that would have worked 15 years ago.