On the debate stage Tuesday, former President Donald Trump repeated his widely debunked claim that he won the 2020 election. Less than two months before Election Day, state officials in Ohio and Republican leaders in Congress appear to be setting the stage for future fraud claims if Trump loses in November, an election watchdog organization warns.
Save failed
With a federal funding deadline looming, House Speaker Mike Johnson wanted to tie the SAVE Act to government funding legislation. The measure, which the House passed earlier this year, would require voters nationwide to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote.
Although it is already illegal to register or vote when you are not eligible, under current law, voters only need to prove they are a citizen. Requiring proof of citizenship is a lot more complicated than it might seem. Documents like a driver’s license or Social Security card are not enough. Even a birth certificate would not be enough without a photo ID that matches your name, which is a potential hurdle for people who changed their name after marriage.
AND Research at the University of Maryland It is estimated that more than 21 million Americans do not have basic access to the documents they need.
Rep. Cory Mills R-FL tells us he will vote against CR even though he sponsored the SAVE Act. He says it’s all messaging and does nothing to control spending. photo:twitter.com/aSYQ5cfxuO
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) September 9, 2024
The problem is that even if Speaker Johnson were to manage to gather as many votes as he previously managed to get for the SAVE Act and force the U.S. Senate into action, where the bill had been defeated from the start, its passage would have no impact on the November election.
This even led to co-sponsor of the SAVE Act to rebellion. On social media, Trump called on lawmakers to shut down the government unless “absolute assurances” election security before voting on the funding measure. Then, without evidence, he accused Democrats of trying to register undocumented people.
David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research noted that it is too overdue for the SAVE Act provisions to have an impact on the upcoming election.
“I think there’s an important question to ask, and that question is, why now?” he said. “Why are you bringing this up now, even if we accept what you’re saying as true, which in most cases it isn’t, why haven’t you done anything about it before?”
He noted that Republicans have controlled the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2023 (the SAVE Act was voted on about two months ago) and Trump has been in the White House for four years.
“This is about politics,” he added, “and more importantly, fueling alleged claims of election theft in anticipation of what they believe will be a defeat for their preferred candidate.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Speaker Johnson announced that delay the vote on the funding bill while working to strengthen support.
What’s happening in Ohio
A little closer to home, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is working in the same vein. He recently called on state lawmakers to enact similar requirements for proof of citizenship at the state level after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold Arizona’s law. On Wednesday, he called on Congress to support his efforts to locate alleged foreigners on the voter registers.
Earlier this week, he referred ancient cases to the Attorney General. Since taking office, LaRose has said in press releaseHis office reported more than 600 cases of alleged election fraud to law enforcement.
An Ohio Capital Journal investigation found that almost none of those allegations led to charges, and LaRose’s firing supports that story. But rather than acknowledge his own failings, LaRose blamed district attorneys.
“Unfortunately, many of these reports have not been followed up by law enforcement, sometimes by choice and sometimes due to limited prosecutorial capacity,” he said.
LaRose noted that the attorney general can intervene when a prosecutor does not act “in a reasonable time” and insisted that “the only way to maintain the high standards of election integrity in Ohio is to enforce the law every time it is broken.” Hun Yi, who leads investigations in LaRose’s public integrity division, argued that prosecutors have had their chance.
“We respect prosecutorial discretion,” he wrote in a letter to Attorney General Dave Yost, “and do not necessarily expect that all 633 referrals will result in criminal charges, but only 12 of the 633 indicate that a second set of eyes may be needed to determine whether prosecution of these offenses is warranted.”
The referral of the rehashed cases comes on the heels of two other audits of noncitizens in which LaRose ultimately flagged recently naturalized citizens. Some say LaRose’s audit cut corners — lumping them together even though they had not filed a legally required declaration of noncitizenship with the BMV.
Becker argued that increased scrutiny was simply not justified.
“Disenfranchisement is wrong,” he said. “It is particularly disturbing to disenfranchise citizens who have acquired naturalized citizenship and who have registered to vote as naturalized citizens as a first act.”
“So until they come up with some evidence,” he added, “I don’t think we have anything to talk about here. Because it’s not an issue.”
