WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate was unable to agree Thursday whether to require photo identification to vote in federal elections, as the chamber debated a larger bill that would make several changes to how Americans register and cast ballots.
The 53-47 procedural vote rejected an amendment from Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted to the SAVE America Act, which President Donald Trump and some GOP lawmakers believe is an essential piece of legislation, but Democrats say will make it more difficult for Americans to vote.
The bill already included a section that is very similar to the amendment, but the vote gave Republicans the opportunity to put Democrats on the record about whether they supported voter ID to cast a ballot.
California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla urged lawmakers to oppose the amendment, saying the vote was an indication of “showmanship and theatrics” from Republicans.
Padilla said the effort would have prevented people from using student IDs or tribal IDs that don’t have an expiration date from participating “in our democracy even though you are eligible.”
The photo ID requirement to cast a ballot, he said, would also add an “additional and unnecessary obstacle” to the tens of millions of Americans who vote by mail.
“In the 2024 election, 48 million voters chose to vote by mail,” he said. “And in case you missed the breaking news a couple days ago, President Trump once again voted by mail in the special election in Florida. So what is it, good enough for the president but not good enough for the rest of us? Secure enough for the president but not secure enough for the American people?”
Republicans defend photo ID
Husted said during floor debate on the proposal that his amendment is “clean, simple, straightforward.”
“States across our country have shown that you can simultaneously make it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” he said. “Georgia, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, all along with my home state of Ohio, all have photo ID requirements, just to name a few.”
Husted said it’s “common sense” for Americans to prove who they are when they vote.
“Americans are required to show a photo ID when they rent a car, when they start a job, when they board a plane. This is something that people do every single day,” he said.
New rules for mail-in ballots
The amendment would have required anyone voting in person to provide election workers with a valid photo identification, which would include a driver’s license, state-issued identification card, U.S. passport, military ID card issued by either the Defense Department or the Department of Veterans Affairs, or a tribal identification card that has an expiration date.
Americans submitting a mail-in ballot would need to send a copy of their photo identification. If for some reason a voter was unable to do that, they could submit the last four digits of their Social Security number along with an affidavit that they couldn’t provide a copy of their ID.
The provision would have requested state or local election officials “to the extent practicable” ensure people have access to a digital scanner and printer to copy their photo IDs for their mail-in ballots.
State election officials would have been required to notify people of the new photo ID requirement to cast a ballot when they registered to vote.
The bill itself, which holds several other provisions, has no chance of advancing in the Senate amid Democratic opposition. Major legislation cannot move forward without the support of at least 60 senators, a procedural step known as the legislative filibuster.
Republicans earlier this week floated the possibility of moving pieces of the package through the complicated budget reconciliation process, though several GOP senators conceded it will be difficult to move a policy proposal through a pathway designed for changes to federal tax, spending and debt limit issues.
