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Just One Democrat Votes For Trump-Backed Election Integrity Bill

The House of Representatives passed a revamped version of a Trump-backed election integrity bill on Wednesday evening with little help from Democrats.

Lawmakers voted 216-213 to approve the SAVE America Act with just one Democratic lawmaker joining Republicans in support of the measure. The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, enacts a voter ID requirement at the ballot box long sought by Republicans and prohibits mail-only voter registrations.

Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar was the lone Democrat to buck House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and support the election integrity bill.

Democrats argued the legislation’s requirements would erect barriers impeding millions of eligible voters, including married women who have changed their last names or Americans that do not have their birth certificates. Republicans countered that most states already have voter identification requirements and turnout has not been affected.

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives has passed versions of the SAVE Act over recent years, though the legislation has stalled in the Senate due to opposition from Democrats. (Read more from “Just One Democrat Votes For Trump-Backed Election Integrity Bill” HERE)

Senate Republicans Have The Power To Force Democrats To Filibuster Voter ID — So Why Don’t They?

Senate Republicans could force Democrats into a talking filibuster on voter identification, but it’s unclear if they will use the strategy to pass the bill.

The SAVE America Act, a Republican-backed election integrity measure, would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote — including by mail — mandate photo ID for federal elections, direct states to verify citizenship and remove non-citizens from federal voter rolls.

Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy in a post on X, confirmed that the bill is expected to reach the House floor in February, and if passed, move to the Senate — where questions remain about whether Republicans, despite controlling both chambers, can muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

Without the 60-vote threshold or Democratic support, GOP Senate leadership would be faced with potentially using one of the Senate’s oldest tools — the talking, or standing, filibuster — to advance the legislation.

Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee has referred to the Senate procedure as the “zombie filibuster.”

(Read more from “Senate Republicans Have The Power To Force Democrats To Filibuster Voter ID — So Why Don’t They?” HERE)

Trump Vows Executive Order Requiring Voter ID for All Ballots, Limits on Mail-In Voting

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he plans to issue an executive order mandating voter identification for every ballot cast in U.S. elections — a move that could intensify legal and political battles ahead of the 2026 midterms.

“Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!” Trump declared on Truth Social. He added, “Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military.”

The statement marks the latest escalation in Trump’s long-standing campaign to overhaul U.S. election practices.

In his latest push, Trump is renewing calls not only for universal voter ID but also for a near-total ban on mail-in ballots and the elimination of electronic voting machines in favor of paper ballots and hand counts.

Trump’s message signals that election security will be a central theme in his messaging ahead of the 2026 elections — the first national vote since his return to office.

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Citizen Volunteers Got 20,000 People Who Moved Out Of Pennsylvania Off The Voter Rolls

When voters move away, their registrations can linger in the voter registration system for a decade or more — unless they submit a paper form to remove themselves. Most people are not aware of this requirement, so hundreds of citizens in Pennsylvania volunteered to change that. Secure elections begin with accurate voter rolls, and maintaining current lists of registered voters is critical to safeguarding the voting system.

In May of 2024, the Election Research Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, analyzed voter registration records in Pennsylvania and found that more than 200,000 individuals on the voter rolls had filed a permanent out-of-state change of address with the U.S. Postal Service. Hundreds of volunteers across the Commonwealth began mailing letters to those 200,000 potential out-of-state movers using the ERI letter template. (See example below.) The response was remarkable. A review of voter registration cancellations found that more than 20,000 individuals who were sent letters subsequently submitted the form requesting removal from the voter rolls.

Over the previous five years, the average number of removals at the request of the voter was 4,125 per year. In 2024, Pennsylvania counties saw an increase of over 500 percent — astonishing results from a group of citizen volunteers. A report released on June 30 by the PA Department of State confirmed the extraordinary number of requests for removal.

Many letter recipients sent notes of gratitude to the volunteers who wrote to them. They reported that they did not know they were still registered in Pennsylvania and that they didn’t know they had to submit a form to remove themselves. (Read more from “Citizen Volunteers Got 20,000 People Who Moved Out Of Pennsylvania Off The Voter Rolls” HERE)

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In A Supreme Election, Wisconsin Voters Will Decide Voter ID Question

While Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election is in the national spotlight, there’s an important election integrity issue on Tuesday’s ballot as well. In fact, election law watchdogs will tell you that the Supreme Court race and a referendum on enshrining the Badger State’s voter ID law into the Wisconsin constitution go hand-in-hand.

“They really are bound together in this election,” Annette Olson, chief executive officer of the Madison-based MacIver Institute, told The Federalist Monday in a phone interview.

The conservative think tank has been advocating for the election integrity ballot question for years. It’s taken a while to get here.

Proposed amendments to the state’s constitution must be approved in two consecutive sessions of the legislature. The Republican-controlled assembly and Senate have passed the measure twice. Now the question is in the hands of the voters. Ballot questions do not require the approval of the governor, which would have been the death knell for the voter ID provision. Democrat Gov. Tony Evers, a dutiful servant of the far left, surely would have vetoed it. (Read more from “In A Supreme Election, Wisconsin Voters Will Decide Voter ID Question” HERE)

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Court: Democrat Secretary Fontes Sidestepped Arizona Law When Drafting Election Rulebook

Arizona’s Democrat secretary of state failed to comply with existing law when creating the state’s election rulebook, an Arizona court ruled on Thursday.

Writing on behalf of a three-judge panel on the Arizona Court of Appeals, Judge Lacey Gard ruled that Secretary of State Adrian Fontes “did not substantially comply” with the Arizona Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) rulemaking procedures when finalizing the 2023 Election Procedures Manual (EPM). In Arizona, the EPM provides rules to election officials relating to mail ballots, voter registration, and other election-related matters.

According to Gard, Fontes’ illegal act pertains to the EPM’s public comment period.

In late July 2023, the Democrat secretary “published a 259-page draft EPM, allowing public comment for a period of fifteen days.” As unanimously determined by the three-judge panel, however, that is “only half the time the APA requires.”

“We conclude that the 2023 EPM was subject to the rulemaking procedure under the APA and that the Secretary did not substantially comply with the APA’s rulemaking process in promulgating the EPM,” Gard wrote. (Read more from “Court: Democrat Secretary Fontes Sidestepped Arizona Law When Drafting Election Rulebook” HERE)

Connecticut Bureaucrat Charged With Fraudulently Changing Republican Voter Registrations To Democrat

A Connecticut state mental health worker has been accused of fraudulently changing Republican voter registrations to Democrat following a September voting event.

Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services employee Arlanda Brantley, 57, faces “five counts each of Fraudulent Registration and Primary or Enrollment Violations,” according to Fox61. As the Hartford Courant reported, police arrested her Monday.

After a “national voting event” at the Western Connecticut Mental Health Network in Torrington, Connecticut on Sept. 17, Brantley allegedly changed “several” voter registration cards with an affiliation of “Republican” or “No” to “Democrat” “without the consent of the registrants.” Police said she then submitted the cards to the Torrington Registrar of Voters clerk, according to Fox61.

Officials noticed white out on the voter registrations, Torrington Registrar of Voters Clerk Melissa Russell told The Federalist. A “handful” of registrations — close to 10 — were affected, according to Russell. She said she does not know if Brantley altered registration cards in other jurisdictions, but the affected Torrington voters fixed their party affiliation before November’s election.

The Torrington Police Department and State Elections Enforcement Commission led the investigation, according to reports. (Read more from “Connecticut Bureaucrat Charged With Fraudulently Changing Republican Voter Registrations To Democrat” HERE)

North Carolina County Board Knowingly Certified the Votes of Dead Voters

North Carolina’s Rowan County Board of Elections knowingly certified the votes of seven deceased voters on Tuesday, rejecting a protest to have their ballots removed from the final tally.

The fact that these individuals were dead was not in dispute. Rather, board members ultimately decide that the ballots would count in the 2024 election based on their “interpretation” of the law that governs voter eligibility, Rowan County Elections Director Sharon Main told The Federalist.

The voters in question had cast ballots either during early voting or via absentee voting prior to Election Day but had passed away after casting ballots and before Nov. 5, which could theoretically disqualify their votes. The controversy highlights one of the glaring problems with having a season of voting instead of a single day to hold an election. In recent memory, before elections took place over a period of months, none of the individuals at issue would have been able to vote because they passed away before Election Day.

The board “voted to dismiss the protest because it failed to show substantial evidence that any violation, irregularity, or misconduct sufficient to cast doubt on the results of the election had occurred,” Main explained. “It goes back to the interpretation of the law, because it talks about the eligible voter, and that’s what my board was hinging it on.”

Judge Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate for the state Supreme Court race, filed protests alleging multiple voter issues across the state. On election night Griffin was winning by about 10,000 votes, but his lead turned into a deficit in the 9-day period after Election Day in which North Carolina accepts overseas ballots and approves provisional ballots. (Read more from “North Carolina County Board Knowingly Certified the Votes of Dead Voters” HERE)

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By Massive Margins, Voters In Eight States Say Only Citizens Can Vote In Their Elections

As divided as America may be, this election showed there’s one thing most Americans agree on: Only U.S. citizens should vote in U.S. elections.

Voters this week in eight states — Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin — overwhelmingly approved constitutional amendment ballot questions seeking to ensure noncitizens cannot vote in state and local elections. Foreign nationals are already barred from voting in federal elections.

“We’re so often told about how divided we are in the United States, but on Tuesday we had Republicans, Democrats and independents come together in overwhelming numbers declaring that only citizens would be able to vote” in elections, a jubilant Will Martin, Wisconsin state director of Americans for Citizen Voting, told The Federalist in a phone interview this week.

The Badger State’s Citizen-Only Voting Amendment (COVA) was endorsed by more than 70 percent of voters in Tuesday’s election, according to unofficial tallies. Support topped 65 percent in each of the states with COVA questions on the ballot, according to unofficial results reported by state news organizations. In Iowa, the referendum passed with 76 percent support. In South Carolina, the ballot question earned the approval of a whopping 86 percent of voters.

In Missouri, the same ballot question amending the state constitution to make clear only citizens can vote in Show Me State elections also knocked out ranked-choice voting by a two-to-one margin. (Read more from “By Massive Margins, Voters In Eight States Say Only Citizens Can Vote In Their Elections” HERE)

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5 Voting Locations in Georgia Receive Bomb Threats, Voting Suspended

There were bomb threats made at five voting locations in Georgia, according to local authorities. Because of the bomb threats, voting was suspended.

The official website of DeKalb County released a statement regarding the seven bomb threats, including seven made in five voting precincts on Election Day. . .

County officials noted that two other locations received bomb threats: the Salem Panola Library at 5137 Salem Road in Lithonia and the Old Sam’s Club in Stonecrest — which is not an active polling location. . .

Voting was suspended at the locations targeted by the multiple bomb threats.

“Rest assured that we are working quickly to ensure every voter will have an opportunity to cast their ballot despite these bomb threats,” said DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections Executive Director Keisha Smith. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are suspending voting at these polling locations until we have clearance from DeKalb Police to reopen the facilities.” (Read more from “5 Voting Locations in Georgia Receive Bomb Threats, Voting Suspended” HERE)