Fetterman says he won’t vote for SAVE Act ‘in its current state’

Centrist Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) says he will not vote for the House-passed SAVE America Act “in its current state,” despite pushing back on Democratic rhetoric characterizing the voting reform bill as Jim Crow 2.0.

Fetterman, who has scolded his fellow Democrats for using over-the-top rhetoric, told CBS’s “The Takeout with Major Garrett” that he won’t support the bill when it comes to the Senate floor and singled out President Trump’s criticism of mail-in voting.

“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.

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The legislation would require that people provide documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote and also to provide photocopies of their identification documents when submitting absentee mail ballots.

Fetterman pointed out that Republican-led states have relied on mail-in ballots without problems.

“Some of the best examples in the country are from red states like Ohio and Florida,” he noted.

Ohio 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 while Florida requires 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 recalled from his time as lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania that state Republicans actually 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.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is expected to bring the SAVE America Act to the Senate floor as soon as next week for a vote and, with Fetterman stating his opposition, every Democrat is expected to vote no.

Trump is pressing Senate Republicans to reinterpret the Senate’s filibuster rule to require Democrats to hold a talking filibuster, which would mean standing at their desks for hours to actively hold the floor in order to block the measure.

Proponents of the talking filibuster reform hope that the grueling nature of having to continuously hold the floor might wear out the opposition and give the SAVE America Act a chance to pass.

Democrats could easily block the measure if Thune simply schedules a vote to end debate, which needs 60 votes to succeed.

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