On Feb. 25, the day after President Donald Trump delivered a memorable and at times contentious State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress, Senate Leader John Thune (R-SD) pledged to force a vote in the upper chamber on what is commonly referred to as the SAVE Act. During his speech, the president called upon Congress to “unite and enact this commonsense country-saving legislation right now,” adding that “it should be before anything else happens.”

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act passed the House of Representatives earlier in February with a 218-213 vote. The legislation requires voters to provide proof of US citizenship, such as a birth certificate, US passport, naturalization certificate, or some other official document that establishes citizenship.

While it is somewhat unlikely that any Senate Republicans would want to go on the record opposing the SAVE Act when it comes up for a vote, there is a 60-vote threshold for passing such a bill. Almost all Capitol Hill Democrats have long made their opposition to any voter ID laws well known.

On the Record for the Midterms

Thune knows this is a very steep hill to climb for the GOP, but he apparently sees the benefit of putting the SAVE Act on the Senate floor at this time. Apart from giving the nod to President Trump’s urgency on the matter, Thune would be obliging individual Democrat senators to make their positions known – with hardly more than eight months until........

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