A closer look at the SAVE America Act and the national debate over voter ID laws, election integrity, and their impact on Colorado taxpayers.
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By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
“People who love sausage and respect the law should never watch either being made.” (Mark Twain)
Congress has been dithering on a number of issues that impact legal, law-abiding US citizens and taxpayers. House and Senate reps from both parties are dragging their feet for various reasons.
One issue under consideration is the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or the SAVE America Act. If passed, this bill would require two major things: 1) that individuals must provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections, and 2) states must remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters.
FACT: Members of Congress routinely provide a valid form of ID before they can vote. This is not considered onerous, discriminatory nor unconstitutional, nor is it challenged by Members of Congress.
The Voting Process for all Members of Congress is as follows:
Each Member must check in and present their ID before casting votes on the House or Senate floor. This process helps to verify the identity of each voting member, ensuring that only authorized individuals can influence legislative outcomes. Members typically use their official Congressional identification cards. In some cases, other forms of government-issued identification may be accepted. Here’s a photo of the panel used for voting at each seat in Congress.
The Purpose of ID Requirements is: 1) Security—to prevent unauthorized individuals from participating in the voting process, and 2) Integrity—to maintain the trust and transparency of legislative actions.
QUESTION: IF this standard is required for Members of Congress who are clearly authorized to vote, THEN shouldn’t the same standard apply for all voters, many of whom may not be known, recognized or legally authorized to vote?
Not that long ago, Democrats supported voter ID. Check out this video of Barack Obama happily presenting his ID for early voting at his local polling place in Chicago. At the time, CNN ran this as a good news story. No complaint from him, the diverse bystanders nor the nice lady who inspects his ID. But that was then, this is now.
Today, Mr. Obama (whose administration deported over 3 million people during his 2 terms) seems to think that voter ID is a heinous violation of human rights and the Constitution. He’d like us to forget that he was known as “deporter in chief.”
Joe Biden (Mr. Obama’s VP) told illegals to “…immediately surge to the border if he’s elected.” Upon his inauguration, he opened the borders, allowing millions of people to cross the border illegally. He then kept Federal and State law enforcement officials from enforcing existing immigration laws at our southern border. That created many problems.
Some States (like Colorado and California) and cities (like Denver and Minneapolis) now classify themselves as ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ and block Federal efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to find, arrest, detain and deport those who reside in the US illegally. Those currently being arrested and deported include: human traffickers, violent criminals, drug dealers/cartels, rapists, murderers, known convicted criminals, previous deportees who return and other individuals who have violated existing immigration laws.
Some suggest that these law enforcement initiatives are racist or xenophobic, and only single out certain racial or cultural groups for exclusion. That is what Joe Biden would call “a bunch of malarkey.”
In fact, surveys show that 70-80% of Americans across the political, racial and cultural and gender spectrum support this legislation.
Several prominent American Black or Hispanic citizens support voter ID including: talk-show host Larry Elder; Congressman and Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds; African-American zillionaire and biz-whiz Elon Musk; Cuban-Americans Secretary of State Marco Rubio and TX Senator Ted Cruz; and Latina Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL).
Some suggest that requiring a valid ID would disenfranchise certain groups. The word disenfranchise means: to deprive (a person or group of similar persons) of a right or privilege of citizenship, especially the right to vote. That is a falsehood, since Americans of all races, ages, nationalities, cultures and genders are able to obtain and use valid government-issued forms of identification (like a drivers license, passport or social card/number) with little or no difficulty. Valid ID is required for things we all do every day throughout the year like: purchase liquor; drive, rent or buy a vehicle; rent or purchase a home, check in to a hotel; board a flight; open a bank account or cash a check.
Having a valid ID is necessary before, during and after the election cycle.
So WHY is requiring a valid form of government-issued identification in order to vote in a Federal election so difficult?
CONSIDER: If anyone could walk into your bank and withdraw your money from your account without a legal form of ID which verifies their identity – would that be OK with you? NO, that would be a criminal violation punishable by law.
Election integrity and identity verification are important because the costs of illegal immigration impact YOU. The following Colorado Sun article explains the details. Here’s a summary from the article.
In 2022, Colorado passed the Cover All Coloradans program. When Democratic state lawmakers passed a bill in 2022 launching the health insurance safety net initiative, fiscal analysts projected $14.7 million for 2025-26. They estimated that about 3,700 immigrants who are children or are pregnant would enroll in Cover All Coloradans this fiscal year. The actual number is nearly 28,000, leading to ballooning costs.
The actual cost is now projected at about $127.4 million. That is 611% over their original cost projections. That suggests either incompetence or intentional deception of Colorado taxpayers. Something smells fishy to me.
Barack Obama famously said, “Elections have consequences.” That’s painfully true in Colorado which is governed by a one party Democrat super majority. So, Coloradans who are tired of ever-increasing insurance, taxes and cost of living – and want something different—should vote for conservatives in the next election. How YOU vote determines many things that are important to YOU.
Voting in free and fair elections is a sacred and fundamental right of every legal American citizen and taxpayer. Only legal American citizens and voters should select US Senators, House Members and the President.
Russ Minary is a retired sales executive, marketing consultant, small business owner, veteran and conservative. He has lived in CO for 50 years and resides in Douglas County.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.
