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(THE HILL) – Senate Democrats on Thursday defeated an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted (R), Ohio’s former secretary of state, to require voters to show photo ID when casting ballots in person or voting by mail, despite previous statements by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) that Democrats support photo ID requirements for elections.
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The Senate voted 52-47 to defeat the amendment, which needed 60 votes to be adopted.
No Democrat voted for it.
The photo ID requirement for elections is a core piece of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, which the Senate is debating this week, but Husted sought to put his Democratic colleagues on record on requiring photo ID to vote as a stand-alone matter.
The SAVE America Act includes other reforms, such as requiring people to show documented proof of citizenship, such as birth certificates or passports, when registering to vote.
Husted cited Schumer’s comment earlier this month that Democrats support requiring voters to show ID when voting.
Schumer told reporters in a March 15 press call that Democrats included a voter ID provision in their Freedom to Vote Act, which they introduced in 2021 when they controlled the Senate.
“Democrats support voter ID. In fact, we included it and it is included in our Freedom to Vote legislation several years ago. So, we’re not opposed,” Schumer said at the time.
Husted said his amendment would give every Senate Democrat the chance to show that’s true.
“We’re going to take them at their word and offer an opportunity to turn those words into action,” Husted said on the floor before the vote. “The Senate will take a roll call vote on a clean, simple, straightforward amendment of mine to require a photo ID to vote in American elections. Nothing more. Straightforward. That’s it.”
Husted said his proposal would allow voters to show a driver’s license, a state ID, a passport, a military veterans ID or a tribal ID.
Schumer stood up on the floor to slam Husted’s proposal as another attempt by Republicans to suppress votes in the upcoming midterm election.
“Republicans have an amendment on the floor dressed up as common-sense voter ID. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and it’s a giant cover-up, which is voter suppression, kicking people off the rolls without their knowledge or consent,” Schumer said.
“The point is not about voter ID. In fact, 99 percent of the SAVE Act doesn’t have to do with voter ID,” he claimed.
Husted said Schumer’s response was a “misrepresentation” of the facts because his amendment was narrowly drafted to deal only with voter ID.
Schumer also criticized the amendment for requiring voters to submit photocopies of IDs when submitting absentee ballots, arguing it would infringe on voters’ right to secrecy.
He said that voters would “have to add a photo ID with their ballot, so the election officials would up the envelope and could see how you voted.”
“The sacred secrecy of our ballot would be undone by this amendment,” he said. “Anyone who voted by mail would have to put a voter ID inside the envelope, and the board of elections would have to open it up and see how you voted,” he added. “It would violate basic privacy.”
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This article was originally published in The Hill.
