WASHINGTON — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Tuesday became the first Republican senator to speak out against the SAVE Act, a sweeping election bill backed by President Donald Trump that would require proof of citizenship to vote nationwide.
In doing so, she reminded her colleagues that they roundly claimed to oppose new federal election laws as recently as Joe Biden’s presidency.
“When Democrats attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed,” Murkowski said in a statement. “Now, I’m seeing proposals such as the SAVE Act and MEGA that would effectively do just that. Once again, I do not support these efforts.”
“Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” she added.
Under current law, all U.S. voters must attest under oath that they are citizens, with criminal penalties for lying. Beyond that, states can set their own rules.
The SAVE Act would bar states from registering people to vote unless they provide documents or evidence proving U.S. citizenship. It would also require all Americans to present ID when they go to vote.
The legislation, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has 48 GOP co-sponsors, and Trump has repeatedly called on Congress to pass it in recent days. Even if it gains a majority of the Senate, it is subject to the 60-vote threshold, and Democrats have vowed to block it.
While Trump and other SAVE Act backers say it’s designed to protect election integrity, Murkowski said it would do the opposite.
“Election Day is fast approaching. Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources,” she said. “Ensuring public trust in our elections is at the core of our democracy, but federal overreach is not how we achieve this.”
In 2021 and 2022, Democrats passed the For the People Act through the House, seeking to establish an aggressive set of federal rules to bolster voting rights and ban partisan gerrymandering. A majority of senators supported a slimmed-down version, called the Freedom to Vote Act, but it died because of a Republican-led filibuster.
At the time, Senate Republicans vehemently opposed the measure, saying election rules must be left to states.
“This is not a federal issue,” then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, told reporters in January 2022 when the bill came before the Senate. “It ought to be left to the states. There’s nothing broken around the country. The system upheld very well during an intense stress during the latter part of the previous Congress. There’s no rational basis for federalizing this election, and, therefore, there’s no point in having a debate in the U.S. Senate about something we ought not do.”
