Conservatives Should Support the SAVE America Act

By Michael O'Neill

The SAVE America Act, currently before Congress, makes common-sense additions to already existing federal election law that simply require states to implement proof of identity and citizenship standards for federal elections. Voter identification requirements are hugely popular across all demographics. It is also squarely within Congress’s constitutional authority.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has voiced opposition to the proposal by acknowledging that while election reform is a national imperative, such reforms should be undertaken at the state level. Pence references the Constitution’s well-known language in Article I, Section 4 that assigns the “Times, Places and Manner of holding elections” to state legislatures. According to the former vice president, the federal government, specifically Congress, should leave the electoral process to the states—even when states remove all reasonable voting protections. Opponents who continue to tout this position are wrong, and all they have to do is keep reading Article I, Section 4. This provision also authorizes Congress to “at any time by law make or alter such regulations [enacted by the states affecting time, places and manner] …”

The Framers were aware of the folly of assigning the power to regulate elections strictly to the states. Writing in the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton stated, “Nothing can be more evident, than that an exclusive power of regulating elections for the National Government, in the hands of the State Legislatures, would leave the existence of the Union entirely at their mercy.” He continued, “They could at any moment annihilate it, by neglecting to provide for the choice of persons to administer its affairs.” The Supreme Court has also acknowledged congressional authority, specifically in Ex parte Siebold (1879), where it stated that it “may be exercised as and when Congress sees fit to exercise it…”

The SAVE America Act does not “nationalize” elections. It sets a floor by codifying common-sense election integrity measures that Americans overwhelmingly support. Latest polls show that 84 percent of Americans believe that citizens should show identification prior to voting. Even 71 percent of Democrats support this. Support cuts across racial lines as well, with over 70 percent of African Americans supporting voter identification. Confirming citizenship and limiting mail-voting guards against voter fraud. The SAVE America Act also obligates states to identify and remove non-citizens from their voter rolls. Removal of non-citizens from voter rolls protects those individuals from inadvertently voting in an election and exposing themselves to criminal penalties.

There He Goes Again: Sen. John Fetterman Spits Common Sense on Voter ID

Americans believe that we can effectuate change via the ballot box and that voting matters. Failure to enact and enforce basic laws that protect the integrity of the vote undermines this faith. Our Constitution provides a remedy when states fail: Congress can fill the void and pass laws to ensure election integrity. It has done so in the past with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). It can do so again by passing the SAVE America Act.

Equally important, the SAVE America Act begins to restore faith that our elections are not compromised. Ironically, loss of faith in the electoral system isn’t limited to Republicans: As recently as 2016, Democrats frequently pushed the theory that Russian interference led to the election of Donald Trump.

In today’s fractured public discourse, one would be hard-pressed to find an issue that has such universal agreement. The Framers envisioned a role for Congress in regulating the times, places, and manner of our elections. And it does not run afoul of conservative principles to support immediate congressional action. Senate leaders need to put the SAVE America Act to a vote and demand that Democrats use the traditional filibuster if they intend to oppose it. Before it’s too late.

Michael O’Neill is the Vice President of Legal Affairs at Landmark Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm in Leesburg, VA, and Kansas City, MO.

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