As things stand now, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) will not be voting in favor of the SAVE America Act.
Fetterman told CBS’s “The Takeout with Major Garrett” he will not vote for the House-passed act “in its current state.”
Fetterman pointed out President Donald Trump’s criticism of mail-in voting as a reason.
“I don’t support … in its current state to vote SAVE America. And the president is constantly critical on mail-in voting and that’s ridiculous. It’s safe,” Fetterman said.
Under the act, potential voters will be required to provide documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote. They will also need to provide photocopies of their identification documents when submitting absentee mail ballots.
Fetterman explained Republican-led states have used mail-in ballots without problems.
“Some of the best examples in the country are from red states like Ohio and Florida,” he said.
The Buckeye state requires voters to provide a driver’s license number, state ID card number or the last four digits of a Social Security number when voting by mail. I’m Florida, voters are required to provide a driver’s license number, state ID card number or the last four digits of a Social Security number when requesting an absentee ballot.
Fetterman said when he was lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, state Republicans pushed for mail-in voting.
“I have a unique perspective on that … in 2019 as I was lieutenant governor, the Republicans in Pennsylvania pushed for mail-in voting. They forced us to give up this straight party line, that was one or two states in the country at that time,” he said. “And then immediately the president decided that’s wrong and now they had to walk back and explain why unanimously every single Republican vote for that in 2019.”
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) may bring the SAVE America Act to the Senate floor next week for a vote. , Every Democrat is expected to vote against it.
Trump is pressing Senate Republicans to reinterpret the Senate’s filibuster rule.
The change would require Democrats to hold a talking filibuster. This mean standing at their desks for hours to hold the floor in order to block the measure.
Proponents of the talking filibuster reform hope the grueling nature might wear out the opposition and give the SAVE America Act a chance to pass.
The measure needs 60 votes to pass.
