It appears to me that Tillis is still "weasling" away from taking a position. He said he was going to vote against moving the SAVE Act. He merely didn't show. No great statesman there.
The SAVE act is so bad that it seems designed to fail. All Democrats and some Republicans will vote against it. But then the Republican attack when Democrats win a majority of the House seats this fall will be that their control is illegitimate because Democrats didn't prevent non-citizens from voting. Republican officeholders from Trump on down will say that Democrats won because they harvested non-citizen mail-in ballots. They will paint the investigations and hearings that Democrats conduct as completely illegitimate. Is there any way to avoid this trap?
I think many people who are not opposed to this regulation mistakenly believe that their Real ID is sufficient to prove their citizenship. This is the case only in 5 states which have enhanced IDs: New York, Vermont, Minnesota, Michigan and Washington, would qualify.
See this post by Jay Kuo and share it (along with this column by Thomas) widely:
Some things that might demonstrate the absurdity of this piece of legislation to North Carolinians:
NC already has a Voter ID law, approved by the Republican controlled state legislature. It survived numerous court challenges and went into effect in 2024. You can read about it here - https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/voter-id
The SAVE Act is a violation of states' rights. This state and many others already have voter ID laws. The Trump administration is saying tough - we don't care about your laws.
But here's the GREAT news! If you don't have the correct documentation to vote, or if you're not an American citizen, you won't be entirely out of luck in North Carolina. What, you say?! Yep - you can take that same NC issued driver's license or other state issued ID and head over to your local sporting goods or firearms store/dealer and get yourself whatever you'd like. No birth certificate, passport or marriage license required! And even green card holders/permanent residents are good to go!
Well it's comforting to know that it will remain much easier for us (and non citizens/permanent residents who can't vote) to exercise our second amendment rights in NC without any of those pesky requirements of US citizenship, a passport and/or birth certificate/marriage license. Whew - what a relief. Now that's what I call a blessing!
President Johnson reportedly told Bill Moyers, his press secretary "there goes the South" after he signed Civil Rights Act of 1964. Isn't it interesting how the political parties in the War Between the States have switched sides.
Wait a minute. Just a few weeks ago I got an email from Ol’ Thom telling me how proud he was of co-sponsoring the SAVE Act because illegal aliens should not be voting in our elections. This was in response to my email asking him not to vote for it. Has Tillis withdrawn his sponsorship?
Tillis has talked a good game but voted for most Trump-supported bills and nominees throughout Trump 2. I hope his actions will match his words this time. Tillis missing the first day this issue is before the Senate looks like the start of a cop-out. I hope he proves me wrong
Not for nothing but just a reminder that any expenditure of money in order to obtain identification in order to vote, amounts to a poll tax. If ID is so desperately needed then it should be issued by the respective Boards of Elections for free after ascertaining eligibility as is currently done. Tillis knows darn good and well that voter fraud is another one of trump’s nightmares and for reasons that are obvious even to Tillis. Glad he’s finally found his spine. Let’s hope he doesn’t lose it again anytime soon.
@dannylineberger I agree, when I reached out to his office on the SAVE Act, here is the response I got on March 12. There is a lot riding on the "With that said..." section of this response.
Thank you for contacting me about legislation related to election integrity and voter eligibility. I appreciate hearing from you.
I believe only U.S. citizens should be able to vote in America and that illegal immigrants should never be voting in any election. We should never provide the right to vote to anyone who is unwilling to go through the proper path to citizenship. I have always been an ardent advocate for election integrity, and as the Speaker of the House of Representatives of North Carolina, I am proud to have spearheaded the efforts to enact voter ID laws in our state.
That is why I am a proud cosponsor of S.128, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which, if enacted, would simply require individuals to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. The SAVE Act would also require states to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls and establish criminal penalties for registering an applicant to vote in a federal election without presenting documentation proving U.S. citizenship. With that said, lawmakers must ensure that the language of the legislation does not have any unintended consequences for American citizens exercising their right to vote, for example, those who have changed their names since their original documentation was issued.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, please know that I will keep your thoughts in mind as matters related to the SAVE Act come before the committee or the full Senate.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please do not hesitate to get back in touch with me about other important issues.
This is an excellent synopsis of what is wrong with the SAVE Act. As you note, Republicans are trying to frame this legislation as a simple voter ID bill, which it is not. It is an attempt to prevent people who might vote against Republicans from voting. I did find it interesting on Sen. Tillis' web page that he said he had co-sponsored the SAVE Act. This makes me more than a little wary that he will now oppose it.
Having been an election officer for the City of Richmond, VA for several years I can tell you I have never had a non-citizen attempt to vote. 99% of voters have a driver’s license and we always check to make sure it’s not the license provided to non-citizens. The very few people that don’t have appropriate ID vote provisionally and have to provide evidence to the board that they are eligible before the vote is counted. Allegations of any sort of cheating are absurd as there are a multitude of checks and balances in the process.
Unfortunately, for those of us who have served in the formation for our Nation of Christian Judeo based values if it’s not worth taking the time to provide valid identification, after all the blood and treasure that’s been spilled over the centuries what is a vote actually worth.
My household is in the same boat but we will figure it out.
It’s an opportunity to get our paperwork straightened out for any future issues.
You definitely sound like an individual who can execute a successful course of action to ensure the greatest blessing we have in this country is afforded to you both.
Wow - George Washington is still alive and is here in NC. Good to know. But if you changed your name to Matt, you might want to make sure you have a passport or your birth certificate when you vote. Whatley's gonna need every vote - gerrymandering can't help him and Trump's endorsement didn't help Mark Robinson or Phil Berger.
That's cool. But SAVE is a POS. This wasn't an issue until a sore loser (in 2020) made it one. But then how did he then win in 2024, without SAVE? The bill has some real problems, starting with discriminating against married women who took their husband's name (like mine). My wife will need a marriage certificate - I won't. And I won't even get into how it tries to kill mail in voting and dumps all kinds of administrative and legal challenges on the states without a penny of funding. My neighbors thought all they'd need is their real id (NC license). They were surprised to hear that wouldn't cut it.
The SAVE Act isn’t about safeguarding elections; it’s a bureaucratic obstacle course wrapped in patriotic branding. If non‑citizen voting were truly a threat, its supporters would have produced credible evidence long ago. They haven’t—because none exists. EXTREMISTS REPUBLICANS HAVE engineered a fix for a problem that isn’t real, and the result conveniently strips tens of thousands of eligible Americans from the voter rolls. WAY TO GO, HOW CUTE!
Exactly. Non-citizens voting is a complete non-problem. It has almost never happened. What history is replete with is the history of clearly American born Black people being denied the right to vote. Matt has history and fantasy confused.
It appears to me that Tillis is still "weasling" away from taking a position. He said he was going to vote against moving the SAVE Act. He merely didn't show. No great statesman there.
The SAVE act is so bad that it seems designed to fail. All Democrats and some Republicans will vote against it. But then the Republican attack when Democrats win a majority of the House seats this fall will be that their control is illegitimate because Democrats didn't prevent non-citizens from voting. Republican officeholders from Trump on down will say that Democrats won because they harvested non-citizen mail-in ballots. They will paint the investigations and hearings that Democrats conduct as completely illegitimate. Is there any way to avoid this trap?
I think many people who are not opposed to this regulation mistakenly believe that their Real ID is sufficient to prove their citizenship. This is the case only in 5 states which have enhanced IDs: New York, Vermont, Minnesota, Michigan and Washington, would qualify.
See this post by Jay Kuo and share it (along with this column by Thomas) widely:
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/five-points-on-the-save-america-act
Some things that might demonstrate the absurdity of this piece of legislation to North Carolinians:
NC already has a Voter ID law, approved by the Republican controlled state legislature. It survived numerous court challenges and went into effect in 2024. You can read about it here - https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/voter-id
The SAVE Act is a violation of states' rights. This state and many others already have voter ID laws. The Trump administration is saying tough - we don't care about your laws.
But here's the GREAT news! If you don't have the correct documentation to vote, or if you're not an American citizen, you won't be entirely out of luck in North Carolina. What, you say?! Yep - you can take that same NC issued driver's license or other state issued ID and head over to your local sporting goods or firearms store/dealer and get yourself whatever you'd like. No birth certificate, passport or marriage license required! And even green card holders/permanent residents are good to go!
In TX, a handgun license is currently a valid form of Voter ID
https://www.votetexas.gov/voting/need-id.html
Well it's comforting to know that it will remain much easier for us (and non citizens/permanent residents who can't vote) to exercise our second amendment rights in NC without any of those pesky requirements of US citizenship, a passport and/or birth certificate/marriage license. Whew - what a relief. Now that's what I call a blessing!
Woe unto America 🇺🇸 for its atrocities☣️☠️!!
President Johnson reportedly told Bill Moyers, his press secretary "there goes the South" after he signed Civil Rights Act of 1964. Isn't it interesting how the political parties in the War Between the States have switched sides.
Wait a minute. Just a few weeks ago I got an email from Ol’ Thom telling me how proud he was of co-sponsoring the SAVE Act because illegal aliens should not be voting in our elections. This was in response to my email asking him not to vote for it. Has Tillis withdrawn his sponsorship?
Tillis has talked a good game but voted for most Trump-supported bills and nominees throughout Trump 2. I hope his actions will match his words this time. Tillis missing the first day this issue is before the Senate looks like the start of a cop-out. I hope he proves me wrong
Not for nothing but just a reminder that any expenditure of money in order to obtain identification in order to vote, amounts to a poll tax. If ID is so desperately needed then it should be issued by the respective Boards of Elections for free after ascertaining eligibility as is currently done. Tillis knows darn good and well that voter fraud is another one of trump’s nightmares and for reasons that are obvious even to Tillis. Glad he’s finally found his spine. Let’s hope he doesn’t lose it again anytime soon.
@dannylineberger I agree, when I reached out to his office on the SAVE Act, here is the response I got on March 12. There is a lot riding on the "With that said..." section of this response.
Thank you for contacting me about legislation related to election integrity and voter eligibility. I appreciate hearing from you.
I believe only U.S. citizens should be able to vote in America and that illegal immigrants should never be voting in any election. We should never provide the right to vote to anyone who is unwilling to go through the proper path to citizenship. I have always been an ardent advocate for election integrity, and as the Speaker of the House of Representatives of North Carolina, I am proud to have spearheaded the efforts to enact voter ID laws in our state.
That is why I am a proud cosponsor of S.128, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which, if enacted, would simply require individuals to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. The SAVE Act would also require states to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls and establish criminal penalties for registering an applicant to vote in a federal election without presenting documentation proving U.S. citizenship. With that said, lawmakers must ensure that the language of the legislation does not have any unintended consequences for American citizens exercising their right to vote, for example, those who have changed their names since their original documentation was issued.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, please know that I will keep your thoughts in mind as matters related to the SAVE Act come before the committee or the full Senate.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please do not hesitate to get back in touch with me about other important issues.
Sincerely,
Thom Tillis
U.S. Senator
This is an excellent synopsis of what is wrong with the SAVE Act. As you note, Republicans are trying to frame this legislation as a simple voter ID bill, which it is not. It is an attempt to prevent people who might vote against Republicans from voting. I did find it interesting on Sen. Tillis' web page that he said he had co-sponsored the SAVE Act. This makes me more than a little wary that he will now oppose it.
Interesting about Tillis. His office wrote to me that he supports the SAVE Act.
Same here
Having been an election officer for the City of Richmond, VA for several years I can tell you I have never had a non-citizen attempt to vote. 99% of voters have a driver’s license and we always check to make sure it’s not the license provided to non-citizens. The very few people that don’t have appropriate ID vote provisionally and have to provide evidence to the board that they are eligible before the vote is counted. Allegations of any sort of cheating are absurd as there are a multitude of checks and balances in the process.
Unfortunately, for those of us who have served in the formation for our Nation of Christian Judeo based values if it’s not worth taking the time to provide valid identification, after all the blood and treasure that’s been spilled over the centuries what is a vote actually worth.
NOTHING WITHOUT VERIFICATION!!
My household is in the same boat but we will figure it out.
It’s an opportunity to get our paperwork straightened out for any future issues.
You definitely sound like an individual who can execute a successful course of action to ensure the greatest blessing we have in this country is afforded to you both.
The effort will be worth end state.
Wow - George Washington is still alive and is here in NC. Good to know. But if you changed your name to Matt, you might want to make sure you have a passport or your birth certificate when you vote. Whatley's gonna need every vote - gerrymandering can't help him and Trump's endorsement didn't help Mark Robinson or Phil Berger.
Robinson was a complete waste of oxygen. BTW I do not wear either the red or the blue jersey.
I am looking for leadership that understand facts are not a product of an individual’s emotions.
That's cool. But SAVE is a POS. This wasn't an issue until a sore loser (in 2020) made it one. But then how did he then win in 2024, without SAVE? The bill has some real problems, starting with discriminating against married women who took their husband's name (like mine). My wife will need a marriage certificate - I won't. And I won't even get into how it tries to kill mail in voting and dumps all kinds of administrative and legal challenges on the states without a penny of funding. My neighbors thought all they'd need is their real id (NC license). They were surprised to hear that wouldn't cut it.
To easy
The SAVE Act isn’t about safeguarding elections; it’s a bureaucratic obstacle course wrapped in patriotic branding. If non‑citizen voting were truly a threat, its supporters would have produced credible evidence long ago. They haven’t—because none exists. EXTREMISTS REPUBLICANS HAVE engineered a fix for a problem that isn’t real, and the result conveniently strips tens of thousands of eligible Americans from the voter rolls. WAY TO GO, HOW CUTE!
Exactly. Non-citizens voting is a complete non-problem. It has almost never happened. What history is replete with is the history of clearly American born Black people being denied the right to vote. Matt has history and fantasy confused.
The GOP doesn’t want to compete. They want to win,and there is a difference.
You don’t compete with weirdos who can’t tell the difference between a male and a female.