US President Donald Trump, on Friday, February 13, threatened to try to bypass Congress and force new voting laws ahead of the November midterm elections, where his Republican Party fears losing control of the legislature. Trump said he would soon issue an executive order attempting to impose the rules if Congress does not pass a law requiring photo identification to vote and other nationwide reforms.
Any attempt would likely be met by a legal challenge that could ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. “There will be Voter ID for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order,” he wrote.
While many jurisdictions across the United States require photo ID to cast ballots, not all do, with Trump and many Republicans arguing without evidence that those areas have permitted significant voter fraud.
The Trump-backed “SAVE America” election reform act passed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives this week. However, it is expected to fail in the Senate, where the Republican majority is too slim to pass the law without Democratic support.
In addition to requiring a photo ID to cast a ballot, the bill would also require proof of citizenship to register to vote. There is no evidence of meaningful fraud in US elections and critics say that the bill’s measures would instead push millions of people away from casting ballots, because they don’t have a passport or a paper copy of their birth certificate.
Are we like still doing the constitution?
Nah, states don’t get to run their own elections no more
So we’re just accepting pedofile rule or we’re going to overthrow this bitch?
Non-stop Mr. Burns shenanigans from this guy. Where’s Maggie Simpson when you need her?
Fine. I bypass Trump and order new guillotines. The French has made some seriously nice ones this year.
they were all in one place a couple times last year, we could hit them all in one fell swoop.
I’m not gonna lie here… as someone who lives in a country that requires photo ID when voting, I am more upset with the fact that you guys don’t have a national ID of some kind that is issued for free to everyone regardless of whether they can drive or not. This is a preexisting vulnerability that he’s exploiting.
EDIT: “In most cases, you will need either a driver’s license or a state ID to register to vote. If you do not have either of these, you may be able to provide other types of documentation, including a bank statement or utility bill. But the required documents you need to register vary by state. Check with your state’s election office to find out what documentation they accept.”
I see some states may have made an attempt at it? Also, how does a utility bill or a bank statement prove your citizenship in the US? Are they getting information about your citizenship from your bank? I assume non-citizens are allowed to open a bank account, right?
If I’m woefully uninformed, please disregard.
In most cases, you will need either a driver’s license or a state ID to register to vote
That is true in all states here. Republicans are obsessed with having ID at the poll itself. Everything they say about non-citizens voting without ID is a strawman argument because a majority of us Americans are dipshits and believe it.
how does a utility bill or a bank statement prove your citizenship in the US?
Those don’t prove citizenship, they prove residency, which is something completely different.
Which is really covering the greater risk of illegal voting. Way more illegal votes cast by people who move and vote in their former home (possibly in addition to their new home) than non-citizens trying to vote.
Evidence of citizenship and identification are 2 different things. You can have a driver’s license or state ID without being a citizen. Proof of citizenship is more difficult - especially for married women whose names won’t match their birth certificate.
The most common reason to prove citizenship right now is when starting a new job, where they’ll ask for either a passport or a social security card and state-issued photo ID.
You literally already need to prove you are an eligible voter to register to vote.
Actually, you technically don’t. The only citizenship requirement that the Federal Government puts on voting is that you affirm, under penalty of perjury, that you are a citizen, which moves the burden of proof. If a government official thinks someone registered themselves illegally, it’s up to the government to prove it.
Some states will impose their own documentation requirements, with varying levels of force. Some states have their own forms that require proof, but still accept the Federal form which only asks for the affirmation. Others will accept the Federal form, but will only register those people for Federal elections. (A small handful of states do not take the Federal form at all, and I am not yet sure why.)
All states will require some proof of address (like a drivers license), only because they will need to know which district to put you in. Yet there was a court case in the 80s that homeless people without a permanent address (and presumably without their documentation) were still entitled to be able to vote if they hold citizenship.
North Dakota has no statewide voter registration at all, but that turns out to be a bad thing too, because it required proving eligibility every time someone votes.
More good info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_registration_in_the_United_States
But if we don’t go further we wouldn’t be able to disenfranchise voters at the ballot box, where they would have no recourse. Think of the children!
You mean the children that got diddled by Trump and Epstien?
Correct. When Republicans say “think of the children” the sick, the evil fuckers mean sexually.
After all this bullshit he still doesn’t understand how any of this works does he?
Imagine getting as far as Trump has and not understanding anything just buying your way through life. Then even if he breaks all the laws he still doesn’t get any legal punishment beyond paying more but he has tons of money. He’s literally looting the US Treasury right now.
as in trumps case, scam your way through life, or failing upwards, and laundering money from russia.
He’s proof the estate tax needs to be 10x what it is.
Not only does the federal government have no authority over elections, the executive especially has no purview there.
That would be completely antithetical to the nature of democratic elections.
But these fascists don’t like democracy.
THE PRESIDENT IS NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE LAWS! THAT IS NOT HOW THIS WORKS!
God, the US is so beyond fucked.
I already know exactly how this is gonna happen… He’s floating it now, he’ll DO it in August, a Federal judge will stop it, the Supreme Court will let it stand pending appeal, and then they won’t take up the case until December, by which point it won’t MATTER what they rule.
Didn’t he try this last year in March, they took him to court, he lost, and his administration didn’t even bother to appeal it because they knew he was going to lose? Is this his dementia brain not remembering things?
Trump isn’t the one pushing this. He says what he’s told to say.
Maybe the court is more sympathetic (AKA being blackmailed harder by Epstein’s ghost)
I was just reading a story this morning, that the GOP is now looking to scuttle the SAVE act as functionally it’d require passports in most all states except a few.
Why are they trying to scuttle it? They finally saw the data that most people who own passports are actually left leaning in nature. Throughout the south, majority of republicans don’t have passports.
This law could inadvertently flip all of the Red strongholds in attempt to get swing states. Gotta love it.
GOP dont travel anywhere outside the us, or even thier state. thats why they have a bubble of communities. if they did they are likely to “Broaden thier horizens about different people” strong if on likely.
it make sense, since the process of getting a passport for the FIRST time is pretty arduous process and takes a long time. plus you have to set up appointments with the usps or some other agency which can be booked weeks or months in advance. plus there is likely even less location in red areas that would do passport processing, which are possibly done in BIG cities. its not as simple as mialing in or going to your local dmv.
Especially when the original intent was likely to disenfranchise women. Whoops.
problem here is their states will just vaguely follow it and their courts will say thats fine but blue states saying fuck you would be ruled against. I mean hopefully the courts throw out the congressional over reach and keep states rights but we really don’t want the law passed. All the republican laws are there to serve their ends and only will be required to be followed by the executive to the extent it does. enforcement wise. judicial wise.
That would be hilarious.
Proof of citizenship is already required to vote. That’s what you’re doing when you register to vote. Then, a secondary validation of a sample of ballots is typically completed to ensure that there isn’t fraud.
Obviously, they’re just trying anything and everything to not lose the midterms, and their voters go rabid over just the mention of voter fraud. I’m just rambling to the void because this new wave of fraud allegations is so fucking stupid and see through.
These news stories are treating this like a real legal issue, but Trump’s EOs have as much jurisdiction on voting procedures as they have in deciding what I’m going to have for dinner. It doesn’t need a legal challenge because it doesn’t apply to anyone who actually decides what IDs are required.
It should be reported, but as authoritarian ravings completely inconsistent with our voting systems rather than a looming legal clash where we need the Supreme Court to decide what’s right.
Trump says it’s chicken tonight!
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
The coverage is fine but the phrasing of these articles is downright subversive. Every single headline should be “Trump pretends he can cancel midterms” or “Trump hallucinates authority to change state voting laws”
Things like “…threatens to order new laws” or “…floats canceling election” or “…nationalize voting security” only serve to muddy the conversation. These things are explicitly not within his power and never will be possible (barring a farce amendment push, which can’t happen before November). He cannot do them even if he pretends to do them.
The only thing that could happen is blatantly unconstitutional election interference (probably by force). Add that as a tagline to every article. Then when people show up to ICE goons monitoring their polling place their first thought won’t be “hmmm, must be [Trump’s new law/a canceled election/national voting security]”. They’ll properly think “why tf is this guy here?..”.
Part of the point is to get that incorrect idea into the minds of the population. It’s seeding other ‘Jan 6’ events in states that correctly ignore Trump’s nonsense.
They have exactly the amount that people give them though.
Not really. If Trump issues an executive order and an executive employee says “I won’t do that”, they can be fired whether or not the EO is ultimately determined to be legal. If a non-executive employee starts demanding birth certificates in order to vote, you can call the police and another less insane poll worker can give you your ballot without any personal risk, just the same as without an EO.
If people do what Trump says, that’s all it takes the give him the authority. It really does come down to enough people doing what he says or not.
again. this is a way to legitamize congress having involvement in elections when its up to the states. If he gets away with it great for him. If not it looks like congress doing it is legitamate because him doing it illegally was stopped but states control their voting not the national governement. They have to be constitutional so the courts have some sway but not the legislative or the executive.
Congress does have some involvement in elections. They have the power to pass federal standards for US elections so long as they do not violate the Constitution. The states have the right to strike down those federal laws if they do not comply with the Constitution.
yeah fair enough. I was reading over the but part in the constitution. All the same supposedly conservative values are supposed to be a small federal government, low regulation, and states rights. messing with state elections is a breaking with all three.
He cannot “order new laws”. He doesn’t have that authority.
Unless we are in a fascist regime.
Laws require compliance and enforcement. Him being fascist and declaring it doesn’t make it the new rule. He’d need to send loyal soldiers to take over polling places for this to work. And there are a lot more polling places than he has brown shirts to take over and the public is agitated and motivated to stop it.
Fascism isn’t a yes or no question. Nazi Germany still had agents of the state who would only follow the law (as defined by the “process”) and not simple dictates by Hitler. And Trump’s level of control is much much much smaller than Hitler’s. He can’t even pass votes in the legislature controlled by his own party.
It’s useful to call out fascism in no uncertain terms when it’s used to wake up the sleepwalkers, but overstating its power out inevitability just seems to be encouraging surrender.
he will try to sic his ICE pigs on purple areas in red states. it wont work in blue state, since you can universally vote by mail, and having numerous polling places that are not on official buildings.
Unless we are in a fascist regime.
We are.
Guess what
Fascist butt
You aren’t going to believe this…
We saw during the Insurrection that he had several strategies going at once. When he finally called off the attack, we thought it was over, but he knew Plan B - the False Electors Plot - was still in play. This will be the same, they will have multiple strategies.
They are working on a Martial Law plan for before the election, they are working on a Voter ID plan, and possibly armed ICE Apes at polling places for during the election, and I’ve heard about them seizing ballots and voting machines from Democratic districts and doing a MAGA vote count, for after the election.
And they’re probably working on other ideas, too.
he saw it failed(because pence wouldnt refuse to certify plus the “attack on capitol” made him look really bad" so the stolen election ploy was his contigency plan.
