Mark Kelly says Trump-backed SAVE America Act will 'make it harder for Americans to vote'

As the Senate continues to deliberate on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) America Act, Senator Mark Kelly reaffirmed the Democrats' position on the bill, saying it would disenfranchise several American citizens of their right to vote. "Trump has made it clear he wants it passed to protect Republican majorities in Congress in 2026 and beyond — making it harder for Americans to vote," Kelly wrote in a post on X. 

The SAVE Act, later redrafted as the SAVE America Act, and passed by a slim majority in the House, remains one of President Donald Trump's priority bills, and GOP Senators have been under pressure to get the bill passed. Republicans have cited data suggesting most Americans approve of the use of photo identification cards, and have labelled the bill a necessity to preserve the sanctity of American elections. Democrats, including Senator Kelly, however, see the bill as an unnecessary obstruction to voting rights in the country. "Donald Trump still can't handle losing the 2020 election. So he's pushing the SAVE Act. It makes voting harder for Americans, which he thinks will help Republicans win," Kelly wrote in a separate post. 

Meanwhile, speaking on the floor, Senate Majority Leader John Thune labelled the SAVE America Act a "commonsense legislation" and accused the Democrats of benefitting from "illegal voting." Speaking to reporters later, Thune said, "It's a piece of common-sense legislation that we think is overwhelmingly supported by the American people. We intend to keep pushing forward and ensure that the American people know whether their senators are for or against ensuring that only American citizens vote in American elections."

Thune also accused the Democrats of spreading "falsehoods", mentioning Senator Chuck Schumer expressing that they weren't against "photo IDs". "That was quickly dispelled when we had an opportunity to vote or, to respond to a proposal put forward by the senator from Ohio, Senator Husted. That would have passed essentially, photo ID—only limited it to that one issue—and the Democrats not only blocked it, but their counter-proposal was a piece of legislation that would actually ban, specifically ban photo ID nationwide," Thune said. 

Senate Minority Leader Schumer, however, has said that the bill is an attempt by Republicans to undermine the upcoming midterm elections. In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, Schumer wrote that while the SAVE Act appears to be a voter ID bill on the surface, "something far more insidious lies beneath." He stated that the Act would be used to purge eligible voters by giving the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unrestricted access to voter rolls of all states, with authority to determine their eligibility.