Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and his wife are reaching <a>deep into their pocketbooks</a> to block voter ID requirements in California.
The streaming titan cut a $1 million check earlier this month, while his wife of 35 years, Patty Quillin, dropped a whopping $1.5 million on August 31 to smash Proposition 39, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/17/us-news/netflix-founder-reed-hastings-gives-big-to-stop-california-voter-id-requirements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Thursday. That proposition would require Golden State voters to show government-issued identification at the polls. The proposition will appear before voters in the November election.
Under the proposed mandate, in-person voters would have to show a valid photo ID, while mail-in voters would need to write down the last four digits of their identification number on their ballot envelopes. Backers of the proposition say the measure is a common-sense tool to clamp down on election fraud and restore trust in a state notorious for taking weeks to count votes.
Hastings put his cash into a &#8220;No on 39&#8221; committee backed by labor and health groups, which also received $2 million from the Los Angeles-based California Community Foundation. Quillin’s millions went to a separate anti-Prop 39 coalition tied to the ACLU.
The battle comes as a new <a href="https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-september-2026/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-september-2026/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1789806355435000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3FQEbBn7mtnbpw0y7y1J7p">Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll</a> shows the measure trailing, with 55% of likely voters opposing Prop 39 and just 43% in favor. The issue has sparked an intense partisan split, as 85% of Republicans support the ballot measure, compared to a paltry 19% of Democrats. Support remains strongest among voters over 55 and residents in the Central Valley and Inland Empire.
Supporters of the proposition accuse California Attorney General Rob Bonta of intentionally slanting the official ballot title to scare voters off.
“Rob Bonta knows that Prop 39 is likely to pass because it is a bipartisan solution to Voter ID and is supported by a supermajority of Democratic, independent, and Republican voters. Knowing he can’t defeat our bipartisan solution to Voter ID in a fair election, he has decided to rig the vote against Prop 39 with a false title claiming it prohibits citizens from voting!” Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/28/us-news/california-voter-id-backers-sue-rob-bonta-for-trying-to-rig-ballot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nypost.com/2026/07/28/us-news/california-voter-id-backers-sue-rob-bonta-for-trying-to-rig-ballot/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1789806355435000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0kndfVnKpPn8QCWNoX8b9r">said</a>.
California&#8217;s delayed vote-counting process and recent federal scrutiny over signature-gathering fraud have kept eyes on the state. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned in June that the state&#8217;s loose mail-in voting rules create structural flaws where fraud can slip through unnoticed.
Hastings shelled out $3 million to help save Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom during his 2021 recall attempt.

The Allen & Co. Media And Technology Conference

Netflix Co-Founder, Wife Invest Millions To Block Voter ID Push

california

gavin newsom

politics

reed hastings

rob bonta

voter id

“The View” is ending Season 29 with an uncertain future, with <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/06/23/mrc-leads-charge-strip-view-bona-fide-news-status">the FCC breathing down their necks</a> as their “bona fide news program” status was being scrutinized and ABC News reportedly <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/07/22/feeling-pressure-view-reportedly-slashing-budgets-denying">denying raises and slashing budgets</a> as advertisers looked elsewhere. Amid all of this, the liberal ladies stayed on message and cranked up the crazy in the closing week of the season with a torrent of lies crafted to scare their audience and drive them to the polls in utter terror in November.
Arguably one of the most outlandish things anyone on “The View” has ever uttered came from Joy Behar on Thursday. She was shouting about how we needed to “follow the money.” Supposedly, President Trump was being paid by Saudi Arabia to allow them to get nukes so they could drop one on Cleveland, Ohio.
It was truly wild stuff:
<blockquote>
Now, he&#8217;s making a deal with the Saudi Arabians that will allow them to produce a nuclear weapon. (&#8230;) The Saudis were behind 9/11 and — and — and — Are they [Congressional Republicans] waiting for him to drop a nuke on Cleveland?! What are they waiting for to do something?! Now I&#8217;m scared (&#8230;) And now we have a guy enabling that rogue nation, because — by the way, they&#8217;re going to give tens of billions of dollars. That&#8217;s what is behind this. Follow the money with this guy!
</blockquote>
No. The agreement with the Saudis was not to give them nukes or allow them to construct nukes. The agreement was for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-saudi-arabia-nuclear-program-uranium-15fdb262bb9c83d0d959ca96b7561c12">enriching uranium for nuclear energy</a>. And claiming Trump was selling out America so another country could nuke us was downright dangerous and incendiary rhetoric that could spur another liberal nutcase to violence.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ABC News&#8217;s Joy Behar claims Trump is going nuke Cleveland, Ohio and whines only then Republicans in Congress would act against him. She also claims Trump is selling nuclear bombs to terrorists and pocketing the money:
JOY BEHAR: The thing that I really can&#8217;t stand about him… <a href="https://t.co/G2UUR3ikrd">pic.twitter.com/G2UUR3ikrd</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://x.com/NickFondacaro/status/2080315141288046700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Also, why Cleveland? Do the Saudis or Trump have a particular hatred for the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame? Maybe they&#8217;re still upset over the end of “The Drew Carey Show.”
“The View” also repeated the refrain they’ve been singing all year, that Trump was planning to steal the 2026 midterm elections.
“The question is: do you think he&#8217;s laying the groundwork to contest the election? Hell, yeah,” Whoopi Goldberg exclaimed. Behar added: “That speech was not about 2020. That speech was about 2026 and he is petrified that the Democrats are going to take over.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ABC News engages in more stochastic terrorism. 
The View suggest Trump is going to steal the 2026 midterms. <a href="https://t.co/LhsS5jWuzU">pic.twitter.com/LhsS5jWuzU</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://x.com/NickFondacaro/status/2079584709676249228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Additionally, Behar’s brain apparently deleted every <a href="https://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2012/12/01/new-joy-behar">comment she</a> and <a href="https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2022/09/07/doing-her-part-view-defends-2016-election-denial-jean-pierre">her co-hosts</a> had made <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/06/08/cant-believe-sunny-hostin-justifies-skepticism-trump-2024">doubting</a> every Republican presidential victory since 2000, including 2024. According to her, no one had ever questioned the validity of an American election before Trump:
<blockquote>
BEHAR: You know, for the 10,000 years that I&#8217;ve been on this planet, this has never come up before! Have any &#8211; Does anyone remember?!
HOSTIN: Well, there&#8217;s no real evidence of election fraud. It&#8217;s like 0.0003 percent of election fraud. So, it just doesn’t exist. It&#8217;s a non-issue.
BEHAR: Basically.
HOSTIN: And you’re right, it&#8217;s not something that has ever come up before.
</blockquote>
Behar has also claimed <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2023/04/06/view-power-hungry-gop-only-win-elections-cheating">every Republican electoral victory</a> is suspect.
Finally, on Friday’s show, Hostin (<a href="https://x.com/NickFondacaro/status/2080677999733596489?s=20">who thought only 5 states required I.D</a>.) equated requiring I.D. to vote to having black people &#8220;count jelly beans in a jar&#8221; and &#8220;having to answer citizenship questions.&#8221; &#8220;I believe that in my soul,&#8221; she proclaimed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The View falsely claims the SAVE Act is about keeping everyone from voting and downplay the 400 illegal votes in New Jersey as not a big deal:
SARA HAINES: But 90 percent of U.S. citizens have some form of I.D. Whereas, only about half of Americans have passports so this… <a href="https://t.co/jb4LDGNOUC">pic.twitter.com/jb4LDGNOUC</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://x.com/NickFondacaro/status/2080675182130196885?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“The View” ended the season by reinforcing the argument that they are not a “bona fide news program,” and possibly making the FCC’s decision even easier to make.
***
Nicholas C. Fondacaro is the associate editor for the Media Research Center and NewsBusters.

ABC’s “The View” – Season 25

‘The View’ Closes Season 29 With A Torrent Of Lies To Scare Their Audience

abc news

DW Opinion

joy behar

sunny hostin

the view

whoopi goldberg

Thursday night, President Trump confirmed what the average American has suspected for years: our elections are not as secure as Washington, D.C., has told us they are.
He declassified intelligence showing China acquired <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/election-integrity/">220 million American voter files</a> — names, addresses, party preferences — and assigned a dedicated unit to exploit them. He released <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/election-integrity/">assessments</a> proving our own government has long known our voting machines and ballot-counting systems are exposed to attack from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea — and buried it. And <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/election-integrity/">the Department of Homeland Security</a> found more than a quarter of a million noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections.
It gets worse. The CIA obtained reporting showing Venezuela’s Maduro regime developed methods to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/election-integrity/">digitally rig its own 2020 elections</a> — altering vote totals in ways no audit could detect. And <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/election-integrity/">FBI files</a> describe a 2020 voter-registration operation in Michigan where canvassers admitted to signing forms in other people’s names, inventing registrants who never existed, and getting paid in gift cards by the application.
This should alarm every American — and is exactly why the Republican National Committee is leading the fight to protect the ballot box.
For years, Democrats dismissed every one of these concerns as a conspiracy theory. But President Trump presented voters with the truth and proved what Republicans have been saying all along.
Voter rolls padded with noncitizens and dead people are unacceptable. Foreign governments holding information on hundreds of millions of American voters is inexcusable. Democrats blocking voter ID, again and again, is indefensible.
America is the greatest nation on earth, and our elections should be the gold standard. The president’s message was simple: secure elections start with voter ID, proof of citizenship, and accurate voter rolls. That’s why Congress must pass the SAVE America Act.
This commonsense legislation is not radical. The Democrats opposing it are. The polling is not close: <a href="https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/HHP_Mar2026_KeyResults.pdf">68%</a> of voters back the bill — including two-thirds of independents and nearly half of Democrats. <a href="https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/HHP_Mar2026_KeyResults.pdf">Eighty-one percent</a> support voter ID and <a href="https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/HHP_Mar2026_KeyResults.pdf">87%</a> agree that only American citizens should decide American elections.
It’s a national embarrassment that Democrats keep blocking safeguards much of the world already has. <a href="https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-election-laws-amendment-bill-2021">India</a> and <a href="https://international.tse.jus.br/en/elections/biometrics">Brazil</a> tie voter identification to a biometric database. <a href="https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2009/bvg09-019.html">Germany</a> and <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&amp;dir=int%2Fcou&amp;document=index&amp;lang=e">Canada</a> count paper ballots. Here, we run on the honor system. Requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote, ensuring clean voter rolls, and strengthening protections against ballot tampering is not only reasonable — it’s the bare minimum.
Here at the RNC, we’re not waiting on Congress — we heard the president’s call loud and clear. We’re leading the largest election integrity operation in Republican Party history — 160 active cases across 36 states. We fought to strike down <a href="https://gop.com/press-release/rnc-secures-court-victory-to-stop-non-citizens-from-voting-in-new-york/">New York City’s noncitizen voting law</a>. We’re defending <a href="https://gop.com/press-release/us-supreme-court-takes-up-rnc-case-defending-proof-of-citizenship-voting-requirement/">Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement</a> at the Supreme Court. We uncovered <a href="https://gop.com/press-release/icymi-rnc-uncovers-hundreds-of-noncitizens-on-new-jersey-voter-rolls/">hundreds of noncitizens</a> on New Jersey’s voter rolls.
We are also deploying a massive election integrity ground game in <a href="https://gop.com/press-release/icymi-rnc-launches-multimillion-dollar-election-integrity-push-in-17-states/">22 target states</a>, training poll workers and watchers, recruiting attorneys, observing machine testing and ballot-processing activities, and building the infrastructure needed to win. The SAVE America Act would only strengthen those efforts and help ensure the election vulnerabilities exposed by President Trump never happen again.
We do this because Americans deserve complete confidence in our elections. We deserve to know our ballot is protected, our vote is counted, and the process is free from interference. That’s exactly what the RNC is fighting for every single day.
As <a href="https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-speech-primetime-address-white-house-july-16-2026/">President Trump said</a>, “Every American, whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or otherwise, should be able to agree that we deserve the most secure, honest, and fair election system anywhere in the world.” He is right. Secure elections are not a Republican issue — they are an American one. Congress should pass the SAVE America Act. And even if Democrats keep blocking it, the RNC will keep fighting in every courtroom in the country, because Americans deserve elections they can trust. You can join the fight with us and help secure our elections at <a href="https://protectthevote.com/">protectthevote.com</a>.
 ***
Joe Gruters is chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Americans voting in an election

We Can’t Let China (Or Anyone Else) Invade Our Elections

election fraud

election integrity

President Trump

save america act

A journalist or newsperson knows better than to make absolute, broad, sweeping statements about something they didn’t know about or that was easily disprovable; they would hedge on the existence of an edge case that could embarrass them. But that wasn’t the case with Whoopi Goldberg of “The View,” the moderator for what ABC has claimed to the FCC is a “bona fide news program.” According to Goldberg this week, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “never had algae before” President Trump’s renovations, and “nobody” wants voter ID laws.
Amid the liberal media’s obsession with the Reflecting Pool earlier in the week, “The View” took a big gulp from that watering hole. Goldberg’s hyperbole even got support from a gullible audience member:
<blockquote>
GOLDBERG: Look this. [Points to screen showing workers in the reflecting pool] I mean, they look like they are fishing in the reflecting pool. They&#8217;re trying to get – they&#8217;re trying to get the algae out. This thing never had algae before!
AUDIENCE MEMBER: No!
</blockquote>
Obviously, that was patently false. Even the anti-Trump journalists at <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-reflecting-pool-is-about-to-be-drained-again-heres-what-to-know">PBS were able to admit</a> that algae are naturally occurring and Trump’s renovations didn’t play a role. We also know the National Park Service has used hydrogen peroxide to kill algae blooms since 2021, when they switched away from chlorine.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg claims Trump was the one who vandalized the reflecting pool and that he&#8217;s going to go to prison for 10 years. 
She falsely claims &#8220;this thing never had algae before&#8221; the renovations. <a href="https://t.co/G5egXOXCtC">pic.twitter.com/G5egXOXCtC</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://x.com/NickFondacaro/status/2069076182113321077?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Goldberg beclowned herself later in the week when proclaiming that no one wanted voter ID laws:
<blockquote>
It doesn&#8217;t have the votes. So, he&#8217;s trying to push to, and do all kinds of stuff. It just — It&#8217;s ridiculous. It&#8217;s — The bill that would force people to have I.D. when they come to vote, and nobody wants it.
</blockquote>
It’s impossible to make the claim “nobody” wants voter ID when poll after poll has shown over 80% bipartisan support for the measure. That’s more than what’s needed for a supermajority vote.
Despite supposedly being a “bona fide news program” under the ABC News umbrella, Goldberg was ignorant of the fact that even her own network gave credence to the fact that it was a popular policy.  “An August 2025 Pew Research Center study found that 83% of the more than 3,500 people surveyed are in favor of requiring voters to show government-issued photo ID at the polls,” <a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/fact-check-trump-save-america-act-amid-push/story?id=130505183">ABC wrote about the Pew Research Center poll</a>.
That’s not to mention that a majority of states (36) already require voters to present ID.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg falsely claims &#8220;nobody wants&#8221; voter ID laws. 
Sunny Hostin decries that the SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship. <a href="https://t.co/2CMFwkZX5Q">pic.twitter.com/2CMFwkZX5Q</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://x.com/NickFondacaro/status/2070163835726483674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Nothing about “The View” is a “bona fide news program.” <a href="https://x.com/NickFondacaro/status/1896964078590984451">Goldberg has been very vocal</a> about how their role is to push Democratic Party messaging and anti-Trump fearmongering to the daytime TV audience. She’s even gotten into arguments about it in defense of their work.
A “bona fide news program” is supposed to share facts and tell its audience the truth. As shown here, “The View” does neither. That’s why the <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/06/23/mrc-leads-charge-strip-view-bona-fide-news-status">Media Research Center is leading the charge</a> to strip “The View” of that status.
“While The View may once have qualified for an exemption, the evidence shows that it has for years operated for political purposes and is therefore not entitled to an exemption from the law. The MRC has the documentation to demonstrate that “The View” is a partisan political operation that advocates for Democrats and their party, against President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans, and for the political priorities of the left,” MRC President David Bozell wrote in <a href="https://cdn.newsbusters.org/blog_attachment/THE%20VIEW%20Ex%20Parte.pdf-1781899751546.pdf">a public comment filing to the FCC</a>.
The MRC also provided the FCC with “2,473 separate pieces of evidence documenting The View’s pervasive bias and, at times, willful electioneering as exhibits to this comment.”
ABC couldn’t even get the facts right when trying to muster supporters to submit public comments. On June 22, they told viewers they had until July 6 to submit a comment. In actuality, public comment ended that day at the close of business. Only reply comments were allowed to be submitted by July 6.
Despite their own incompetence, ABC and “The View” will likely cry foul if the FCC ignores the comments filed after the deadline.
***
Nicholas C. Fondacaro is the associate editor for the Media Research Center and NewsBusters.

Disney 2026 Upfront Red Carpet

Only A Sith (And Whoopi Goldberg) Deals In Absolutes

fake news

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

media bias

Reflecting Pool

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley laid into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that her recent comments on voter identification belied her &#8220;contempt&#8221; for everyday Americans.
&#8220;Having Hillary Clinton talk about the lives of &#8216;real people&#8217; is about as authentic as a Chuck Schumer lesson on backyard grilling,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/JonathanTurley/status/2066129927250804868">Turley began</a>, adding a jab at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for good measure. &#8220;Despite 83% of Americans favoring voter ID, Hillary declared, &#8216;most real people don’t have, and most older people, and most rural people don’t have&#8217; such IDs.&#8221;
Turley went on to argue that Clinton&#8217;s comments didn&#8217;t reveal anything other than her apparent belief that those &#8220;rural people&#8221; and real Americans would be lost without the political class acting — and making decisions — on their behalf.
&#8220;The only value of these interviews is the insight of how the establishment and elite view the rest of the United States as knuckle-dragging, childlike creatures who are helpless without their guidance. It is not the inherent conceit but the contempt that is so striking,&#8221; Turley explained.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8230;Last week, I spoke with a former California poll worker who said that most people still automatically produce their IDs. They were trained to tell people not to show any identification and told to refuse to look at the IDs when they were offered.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) <a href="https://x.com/JonathanTurley/status/2066133442530615803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Last week, I spoke with a former California poll worker who said that most people still automatically produce their IDs. They were trained to tell people not to show any identification and told to refuse to look at the IDs when they were offered,&#8221; Turley added.
During the interview Turley referenced, Clinton claimed that Republicans were trying to &#8220;undermine voting&#8221; and to &#8220;kick people off voting rolls.&#8221; She then went on to argue that rural and older Americans did not have the kind of identification that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration wanted to require — and insinuated that they would struggle to obtain it.
&#8220;They&#8217;re trying to demand forms of identification that most real people don&#8217;t have, and most older people, and most rural people don&#8217;t have,&#8221; she said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
HILLARY CLINTON INSULTS RURAL &amp; OLDER VOTERS AGAIN
&#8220;They&#8217;re trying to demand forms of identification that most real people don&#8217;t have, and most older people, and most rural people don&#8217;t have.&#8221;
Deplorables 2.0? Hillary still hates everyday Americans. <a href="https://t.co/cOtL7C9Dkg">pic.twitter.com/cOtL7C9Dkg</a>
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) <a href="https://x.com/RichSementa/status/2065862369247363074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;They&#8217;re certainly redistricting to make it difficult to elect black representatives or Latino representatives or Democrats,&#8221; she continued, making no mention of the gerrymandering being done in blue states like Illinois, where Republicans have been shut out of congressional seats almost entirely despite Trump winning just over 43% of the vote in 2024. &#8220;So that means we have to be even more intentional in showing up and voting.&#8221;

Former Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton’s Portrait Unveiled At The State Department

Jonathan Turley Slams Hillary Clinton Over ‘Contempt’ For Everyday Americans

Jonathan Turley Slams Hillary Clinton Over 'Contempt' For Everyday Americans

Americans

hillary clinton

jonathan turley

In a recently resurfaced clip, Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico said he opposes voter ID and claimed it is unnecessary. 
In a <a href="https://youtu.be/0Ia-shuHvsE?si=gi2J8NK4Ow9QFBwy">primetime</a> Fox News appearance with Pete Hegseth in July 2021, Talarico argued that &#8220;Texas is one of the hardest places to vote in the whole country&#8221; for simply requiring a photo ID to verify your identity prior to casting an in-person ballot. Voters only have to present one of seven acceptable forms of identification.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Talarico in 2021: “I oppose voter ID.&#8221;
Add it to the ever-growing list. <a href="https://t.co/bXeoxM1kYD">pic.twitter.com/bXeoxM1kYD</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://x.com/WesternLensman/status/2060120062913081377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Talarico and Hegseth debated SB 1, Texas&#8217;s voter ID requirement for mail-in ballots, which was subsequently signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on September 7 of that same year. Hegseth pointed out that Texas already allowed 12-13 days of early voting, and that SB 1 expanded early voting hours as well.
Talarico also recently slammed Texas&#8217; voter laws, saying, &#8220;I will say that we already have a lot of voter suppression in Texas. It’s baked into our laws. I’ve fought fiercely against many of those laws when they were coming through the legislature. And Texas is one of the hardest places to vote in the country as a result. It’s why we see such low voter turnout in our state compared to other states.&#8221;
When applying for and returning a mail-in ballot under SB 1 provisions, Texans simply have to provide the last four digits of their Social Security number, which is assigned to almost every American citizen at birth at no cost.
According to the <a href="https://cdce.umd.edu/sites/cdce.umd.edu/files/Voter%20ID%20Report%20Texas.pdf">Center for Democracy &amp; Civic Engagement</a>, 99% of Texans have at least one of the seven forms of photo identification required to vote. In states like California, voter ID laws are extremely lax, and people do not need to show any form of physical ID to register to vote. In some states, people only have to provide a name and address along with a signature approved by the poll worker. 
If elected to the Senate, Talarico would likely become another lawmaker opposed to federal voter ID legislation such as the SAVE Act, which passed the House but is pending in the Senate. The 2026 Texas Senate race is shaping up to be one of the most consequential national races in determining the direction of the United States regarding voter integrity.

James Talarico

FLASHBACK: Where James Talarico Stands On Election Security

james talarico

senate

texas

“This is not 1960 anymore. It’s 2026.”
Rep. Wesley Hunt delivered that blunt message during a fiery hearing Wednesday as Republicans unloaded on Democrats and the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center over years of “Jim Crow 2.0” rhetoric surrounding voter ID laws and election integrity measures.
And Hunt was clearly done being polite about it.
The Texas Republican tore into Democrats for repeatedly comparing modern voting laws to segregation-era America, arguing that today’s political rhetoric has completely lost touch with what actual Jim Crow looked like.
Sitting beside giant side-by-side images showing segregation-era scenes next to modern Americans simply showing ID at voting booths, Hunt described what actual racial discrimination looked like in America.
“Jim Crow was a time when black Americans could not sit in classrooms with white Americans,” Hunt said. “It was colored-only water fountains. It was beatings in the streets. It was lynchings.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Wesley Hunt levels Democrats with one brutal Jim Crow reminder" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ORPiJA15S2M?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Then the hearing got personal.
Hunt recalled how his own father had to enter restaurants through the back door in New Orleans just to buy a sandwich because black Americans were barred from using the front entrance.
“That is precisely why it is so offensive to compare that era of legalized discrimination and racial terror to showing a photo ID at the voting booth,” Hunt said.
The hearing itself centered around growing backlash involving the SPLC after outrage erupted over a recent Department of Justice indictment over accusations that donor funds were funneled toward organizations linked to racist or extremist activity.
Republicans argued the controversy raises serious questions about whether the SPLC has spent years profiting off fear and political division while presenting itself as an authority on extremism.
Hunt did not hold back.
“The Democrat Party survives on manufacturing grievance,” he said. “They want emotional manipulation. They want outrage. They want division.”
The congressman also pointed to something Democrats rarely know how to respond to: black Republicans consistently winning in majority-white districts.
Hunt noted that he, along with fellow Republican lawmakers Byron Donalds (R-FL), John James (R-MI), and Burgess Owens (R-UT), all represent overwhelmingly white constituencies.
“Nobody cares about what we look like,” Hunt said. “We are being judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character.”
For conservatives frustrated by years of “Jim Crow 2.0” rhetoric surrounding voter ID laws, the hearing quickly became another reminder of how dramatically the conversation around race and voting has shifted since Democrats first sounded alarms over Georgia’s election law years ago.
Back then, critics predicted widespread voter suppression and comparisons to segregation-era America dominated headlines for months.
Instead, Georgia later posted record turnout numbers — including strong minority participation.
Now Republicans like Hunt are increasingly arguing that comparing modern voter ID laws to actual segregation is not just inaccurate, but deeply insulting to Americans who truly lived through Jim Crow.

House GOP Capitol Hill Club Jan 22

Wesley Hunt Levels Democrats With One Brutal Jim Crow Reminder

Democrats

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

Wesley Hunt

The SAVE America Act may be stalled in the Senate, but Congress is still debating it, and every American, regardless of political affiliation, should demand its passage. Requiring voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections is overwhelmingly popular and long overdue. Yet even if the bill becomes law — and especially if it dies under Democrat obstruction — states should not be sitting idle. State legislatures should be passing strong measures to ensure that only citizens can vote in all American elections.
Evidence of the problem is not hard to find. Over four years, a single county in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://thefederalist.com/2026/03/19/thousands-of-noncitizens-on-voter-rolls-in-one-county-underscore-need-for-save-act/__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!1PCGuGnYoDUudOaHW0MTSfGTTW0b63zuI_dBW9lmBwFQUGqgsRX278ZgAwnwEO-MFm9-71XxmdmPnkvY$">removed</a> nearly 2,000 noncitizens from its voter rolls. States like <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/10/29/ohio-noncitizens-voting__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!1PCGuGnYoDUudOaHW0MTSfGTTW0b63zuI_dBW9lmBwFQUGqgsRX278ZgAwnwEO-MFm9-71XxmRpCs_8Q$">Ohio</a>, Texas, and Virginia have identified thousands more, many of whom had cast illegal ballots that canceled out the legal votes of Americans. The system is fundamentally broken, and far-left Democrats only seem interested in adamantly opposing commonsense reforms.
The lion’s share of the problem stems from the National Voter Registration Act and the <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.eac.gov/voters/national-mail-voter-registration-form__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!1PCGuGnYoDUudOaHW0MTSfGTTW0b63zuI_dBW9lmBwFQUGqgsRX278ZgAwnwEO-MFm9-71XxmSOkY8Mo$">National Mail Voter Registration Form</a> it created. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling misinterpreted the law, forcing states to “accept and use” this federal form as-is. So long as someone checks a box claiming citizenship, officials must register him to vote and can’t require actual proof of citizenship. Only later can those officials attempt to verify that claim through less reliable means. Thanks to the federal form, a noncitizen is one lie away from voting.
States have repeatedly petitioned the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to modify the form to honor their own proof-of-citizenship laws, but the Democrat commissioners have frustrated those efforts, including ignoring an executive order from President Trump. The SAVE America Act would solve this by requiring up-front proof of citizenship, but Senate Democrats are stonewalling. That fight must continue, and it is time for states to step up.
First, every state should require proof of citizenship to register: a birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate, or other documents already required to get REAL IDs. If the voter has already given this to the DMV, a simple driver’s license number will do. Officials verify citizenship and add the voter to the rolls. No proof, no registration.
The federal form will remain a problem unless it is fixed or the Supreme Court reverses its erroneous ruling. Until then, the focus should be on damage control, that is, limiting the risk of noncitizens using the federal form to register. The Constitution offers a solution. Congress may “make or alter” the rules of congressional elections, but states retain control over state and presidential elections.
Using this framework, states should create a category of “federal-only” voters. If states cannot verify the citizenship of a federal-form applicant, he only gets to vote in congressional elections. Arizona pioneered this system in 2021, and the radical Left sued, but the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the federal-only system to remain in effect. Utah adopted a similar model this year. More states should follow — and go further.
States should use every available state and federal database to vet new and existing registrations. The Trump administration transformed the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) database into a free and easy tool to scan voter rolls for potential noncitizens. Legislatures should make its use mandatory.
DMVs should be collecting citizenship data and automatically sharing it with election officials. States should tap state and federal jury records, too; anyone unable to serve on a jury due to non-citizenship should be flagged for election officials and referred for investigation if they registered or voted. Photo IDs issued to noncitizens should be made visually distinct, and state agencies should be barred from offering to register anyone who is not a citizen.
Critics howl that citizenship laws will disenfranchise millions. But that is the charge they level against every election safeguard, and it never comes true. Americans easily comply with proof-of-citizenship requirements in other contexts. The same Senate that is now deadlocked on the SAVE America Act voted unanimously in 2005 to require Americans to prove citizenship to get a REAL ID.
Federal law requires individuals to prove identity and citizenship to get a job or apply for most welfare benefits. These laws haven’t barred millions from roads, airports, or welfare offices. The same will be true for voting. Americans understand this, which is why more than <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://news.gallup.com/poll/652523/americans-endorse-early-voting-voter-verification.aspx__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!1PCGuGnYoDUudOaHW0MTSfGTTW0b63zuI_dBW9lmBwFQUGqgsRX278ZgAwnwEO-MFm9-71XxmXjPzwZJ$">80% of the public</a> wants everyone to prove citizenship to vote.
The SAVE America Act may yet pass, but the next election won’t wait. Republican-controlled state legislatures should be moving now — even convening in special sessions — to strengthen their laws before the midterms. Many states have made progress, but few have gone as far as they should to ensure that elections are reserved for American citizens. It’s time to change that.
* * *
Jason Snead is Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project Action.
Hans von Spakovsky is a Senior Legal Fellow at Advancing American Freedom.

Senator Mike Lee Holds Capitol Hill News Conference On The SAVE America Act

The SAVE America Act May Stall. States Shouldn’t.

States Should Pass Their Own SAVE Acts

congress

Republicans

U.S. Senate

Vote Fraud

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday afternoon aimed at securing mail-in voting and ensuring that only eligible voters are allowed to cast ballots in federal elections.
While states are responsible for the election process, including their mail-in voting systems, Trump&#8217;s order seeks to use the power of the federal government to verify that mail-in ballots are only sent to American citizens who are eligible to vote. The order, which was first <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/03/31/trump-mail-in-voting-executive-order-save-america-act-midterms/">reported</a> by The Daily Caller, requires the Department of Homeland Security to create a list of American voters and tasks the United States Postal Service with ensuring that absentee ballots are only sent to people on the list.
&#8220;The right to vote in Federal elections is reserved exclusively for citizens of the United States under the Constitution and Federal law,&#8221; Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/ensuring-citizenship-verification-and-integrity-in-federal-elections/">order</a> states. &#8220;Federal statutes explicitly prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote or voting in Federal elections and impose criminal penalties for violations.&#8221;
Under the order, the federal data on eligible voters would be shared with state election officials, who would see who is on the list of eligible voters in their jurisdictions. States would receive the list of confirmed voters no fewer than 60 days before each federal election, the order stipulates. The order also requires that absentee ballots are placed into envelopes that have specific barcodes to make them easy to track.
In the order, Trump instructs the attorney general to prosecute state and local officials and any public or private entities that issue ballots to ineligible voters.
Immediately after signing the order, the president acknowledges that a federal judge would likely challenge his action.
&#8220;You may find a rogue judge, you have a lot of rogue judges — very bad, bad, people, very bad judges. But that&#8217;s the only way that can be changed, and hopefully we&#8217;ll win on appeal if it is,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2039097783420887348">said</a>. &#8220;I don&#8217;t see how anybody can challenge it.&#8221;
Trump is attempting to address concerns around mail-in voting through executive action as the Republican-led Senate sits on the SAVE America Act, legislation pushed by Trump that would impose more restrictions on mail-in voting and require voters to provide ID and proof of citizenship when they register.
Trump has pressured Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, but the bill would have to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold that Democrats are relying on to block the voter ID legislation. Trump has argued that the SAVE America Act is vital to maintain trust in U.S. elections, and his push for stronger voter ID and mail-in ballot laws comes just months before the important 2026 midterm elections.
Democrats have already condemned Trump&#8217;s order as &#8220;unconstitutional&#8221; and argue that the president&#8217;s action would disenfranchise voters. Democrats are also united in their opposition to the SAVE America Act, with the party claiming that stricter voter ID and citizenship requirements would prevent tens of millions of people from voting.

Trump_Mail_In_Ballots

Trump Targets Mail-In Voting As New Move Could Reshape How Your Ballot Is Handled

donald trump

Mail-In Voting

If you have ever lived in a country that is not governed by a functional democratic system, you would probably notice that, by and large, its citizens hold a different standard for fairness and justice. For them, getting unmerited benefits through one’s connection to the powerful is entirely acceptable. In fact, forfeiting such a backdoor opportunity and going through proper channels is considered utterly foolish. However, it would be a mistake to assume that people in such a society are inherently dishonest. Since their culture does not stress the notion of fairness and justice as exercised in the United States, they find other ways to achieve the same end.
Many practices in China can be considered fraudulent when judged by American standards. But there is one institution that remains untouched by corruption – the annual National College Entrance Exam, also known as the Gaokao Exam. As long as I can remember, the process upholds the highest degree of integrity, standing as a startling aberration in Chinese culture. This is the area where one’s reward correlates with one’s performance irrespective of one’s connections and social status.
<h3>The Annual National College Entrance Exam</h3>
Why do the Chinese people behave so differently in this particular area? What drives them to overcome cultural norms and vigilantly guard the integrity of this examination process?
<div id="attachment_1059965" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059965" class="size-large wp-image-1059965" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828188-864x576.jpg" alt="NANJING, CHINA - DECEMBER 20: Examinees review their study materials outside an examination site for the 2026 postgraduate entrance exam on December 20, 2025 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China. 2026 China's national exam for postgraduate enrolment kicked off on December 20. (Photo by Liu Jianhua/VCG via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828188-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828188-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828188-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828188.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Liu Jianhua/VCG via Getty Images</div>
Confucianism, the primary philosophy in Chinese culture, puts great emphasis on education. Confucius believed that knowledge provides the foundation for morality. The more knowledge one has, the deeper one’s moral conviction becomes. Accordingly, a government official who is intelligent and learned would govern more judiciously, for such an erudite person certainly holds a higher moral standard. In the 7th century, the Chinese government formally began to select its administrators using a vigorous and elaborate system called the Imperial Examination. Through this process, the brightest and the most knowledgeable men were chosen to serve in government posts. In reality, however, a person’s high intelligence and profound knowledge did not necessarily reflect his moral conviction, nor his ability to govern. There have been plenty of immoral and incompetent government officials in Chinese history.
Nonetheless, success on the Imperial Examination can change one’s destiny, especially for those from a lower social stratum. In a culture where bribery receives tacit consent, holding a government post opens up endless opportunities for personal gain. This was the primary reason for the creation of a national obsession with education. Eventually, education became the national identity. After the Imperial Examination was abolished in 1905, the annual National College Entrance Exam – though with a much broader purpose – took its place in cultural significance. It was only briefly interrupted during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).
The survival of this national identity is entirely contingent upon the integrity of the examination process. Should corruption occur, such as changing one’s score or using an imposter as a substitute, education would lose its objective measure and become culturally meaningless. Indeed, any dishonesty would pose a direct threat to the existence of the national identity. Consequently, any misstep in the process must be categorically eliminated. Considering that Chinese culture is based on intricate and complex relationships and is highly prone to corruption, the successful guarding of the examination process is by no means a small feat.
<div id="attachment_1059967" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059967" class="size-large wp-image-1059967" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828256-864x576.jpg" alt="FUYANG, CHINA - DECEMBER 20: Examinees walk out of an examination site for the 2026 postgraduate entrance exam on December 20, 2025 in Fuyang, Anhui Province of China. 2026 China's national exam for postgraduate enrolment kicked off on December 20. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828256-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828256-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828256-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2252828256.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />VCG/VCG via Getty Images</div>
<h3>What Sets America Apart?</h3>
What sets America apart from other nations? What is America’s national identity?
As an immigrant from an authoritarian regime, I can unequivocally state that America stands for freedom, human rights, and equality under the law. This identity is protected and secured by our political system of a constitutional republic, within which the right of the citizen to participate in different electoral processes serves as the linchpin.
However, America is not the only place that holds elections. I participated in an election in China during my senior year in high school in the 1980s. The whole process felt contrived and incongruent with the cultural environment I was in. Knowing very little about democracy and the value of voting, I simply followed the direction of the lady at the voting station who guided me to select the predetermined names. Authoritarian regimes can also call an election – and they often do – masquerading as lovers of democracy. But their process is only a sham, an exercise in fraud.
What sets America apart is its electoral integrity, the cornerstone and prerequisite of our political system that safeguards our national identity – freedom, rights, and equality under the law. For over 200 years, our electoral system has seldom faced challenges. For most Americans, electoral fraud is not just downright wrong but unthinkable. Indeed, our relatively lenient election law, compared with many other nations, suggests that electoral integrity is so engraved in the hearts and minds of the American people that it is taken for granted. Consequently, any claim of large-scale electoral fraud comes across as incredibly conspiratorial, provoking cognitive dissonance and will be met with denials.
Yet, electoral fraud does occur in America. Even before Covid, there were <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/108824/documents/HHRG-116-JU00-20190129-SD020.pdf">proven cases</a>. A look at the 2018 congressional race in North Carolina shows the result was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/us/mark-harris-nc-voter-fraud.html">overturned</a> by the state election board because of mail-in ballot fraud. In 2019, Elbert Melton, the mayor of Gordon, Alabama, was <a href="https://electionfraud.heritage.org/case/200627">convicted</a> of voter fraud and removed from office. And, of course, the electoral integrity of the 2020 election, in the midst of the Covid outbreak, still remains in question for many.
<h3>The New Threat To Electoral Integrity</h3>
Today we are facing yet another tangible threat. How can we prevent the illegal immigrants Biden’s open-border policy produced from participating in the voting process only granted to American citizens? The law that prohibits illegal immigrants from voting has not been strictly enforced. For instance, according to court documents, in Pennsylvania, an illegal immigrant who had been ordered to leave the United States was able to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/illegal-immigrant-charged-voting-pennsylvania-5-presidential-elections">cast ballots</a> in every presidential election since 2008. This is far from being an isolated case. The two million illegal immigrants the Trump administration has deported is still a small minority compared with the army of foreign voters the Biden administration intentionally let in. Today, they pose a substantial threat to electoral integrity.
<div id="attachment_816347" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-816347" class="size-large wp-image-816347" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/Untitled-design-43-1024x576.jpg" alt="A migrant caravan walks into the interior of Mexico after crossing the Guatemalan border on October 21, 2018 near Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico The caravan of Central Americans plans to eventually reach the United States." width="1024" height="576" />(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)</div>
The Safeguard America Vote Eligibility Act (SAVE America Act) is specifically designed to deal with this threat, prohibiting states from registering voters who are not American citizens, requiring voter ID at the point of voting, and eliminating mail-in ballots with a few exceptions. The bill has already passed the House vote and is currently in the Senate. Yet, Senate democrats rallying around Chuck Schumer vowed to kill it.
If we fail to prevent electoral fraud from taking place, America would soon evolve into a nation no different from many other places where corruption, rather than law and order, marks the characteristics of the society. Citizens, ruled by a corrupt and unaccountable government, would live without freedom, rights, and the protection of law. America would lose her identity and cease to be America.
The Chinese, who are culturally lenient towards bribery and cheating, have meticulously protected the integrity of their examination process in order to safeguard their national identity. Should we, who hold a higher standard of honesty, do less?
<h3>American Identity</h3>
Further, if the Chinese lost their national identity, the obsession with education, China would still survive. At most, they would have a reduced number of highly educated people. However, if America forsook our national identity, America would not survive. America would become just like any other nation where tyranny replaces freedom, scarcity substitutes for prosperity, and obedience is swapped for liberty. America as the “city on a hill” would vanish in history. Consequently, the threat of electoral fraud we are facing is not just an inconsequential blunder, but an existential threat to our nation, the equivalent of a foreign invasion.
When the Japanese invaded China during WWII, the Chinese Communist Party of Mao and the Chinese Nationalist Party of Chiang Kai-shek temporarily joined forces in order to deal with their common threat. They recognized that if they allowed this threat to destroy their country, neither party would survive even though in peacetime they themselves had been rivals.
American citizens have recognized the common threat we are facing. Gallup polls show that 83% of Americans <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/652523/americans-endorse-early-voting-voter-verification.aspx#:~:text=Stacked%20bar%20chart%20showing%20Americans,applications%20to%20all%20eligible%20voters.">support</a> requiring proof of citizenship for first-time voter registration. Pew research also suggests that 83% of Americans are <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/08/22/majority-of-americans-continue-to-back-expanded-early-voting-voting-by-mail-voter-id/#:~:text=Requiring%20all%20voters%20to%20show%20government%2Dissued%20photo%20identification%20(83%25)">in favor</a> of voter ID laws. These statistics reveal that SAVE America Act has received a wide range of support transcending political and ethnic barriers. Yet, in spite of the unity behind this bill, Senate Democrats – and a few Republicans – have been going all out to stop it, laying out various pretexts, such as discrimination against the poor who do not possess the required documents for proof of citizenship. 
<div id="attachment_1059985" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059985" class="size-full wp-image-1059985" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266146798.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) (C) talks with reporters as he heads for the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on March 12, 2026 in Washington, DC. Thune is being pressured by conservatives to do away with the 60-vote cloture threshold and move the SAVE America Act forward, a priority for President Donald Trump going into the midterm elections. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)" width="1024" height="574" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266146798.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266146798-300x168.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266146798-768x431.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</div>
The truth is that Democrats care little about the poor who are merely a useful tool in their power struggle. Neither do they care about Biden’s illegal population. Hiding behind egalitarianism is the real intention – using an illegal voting bloc to seize political power. Their willingness to sacrifice America in order to gain power is treasonous. Even ruthless Mao, a man responsible for the deaths of millions of Chinese, didn’t have the nerve to surrender his own country. Those who oppose this bill have managed to sink below the monstrous Mao.
Today, whether you are left or right, blue or red, we are facing a common threat, and have a mutual self-interest in electoral integrity, without which our freedom and rights will vanish. And we, too, will vanish with it. At this crucial moment before the midterms, we must get behind President Trump and demand that the Senate pass the SAVE America Act to save America.
* * *
Chenyuan Snider was raised in Communist China and majored in Chinese language and literature in college. After immigrating to the United States and studying at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School, she became a professor at Christian colleges and seminaries. She and her husband live in Northern California and have two grown children.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Correction: The term Gaokao Exam refers to China&#8217;s annual National College Entrance Exam, not the Imperial Examination.

China’s Gaokao Exam Begins Grading

What China’s Exam System Taught Me About Saving America’s Elections

china

Elections

opinion

Voters

Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who has broken with Democrats on multiple issues, is toeing the party line on the SAVE America Act, criticizing President Donald Trump over concerns about mail-in ballots and gender procedures for children on Wednesday night.
During an appearance on CBS News&#8217;s &#8220;The Takeout with Major Garrett,&#8221; Fetterman <a href="https://x.com/CBSNews/status/2031851997729632432">said</a> he doesn&#8217;t support the SAVE America Act &#8220;in its current state.&#8221; The legislation, which would establish strict voter ID requirements and limit the use of mail-in ballots, is Trump&#8217;s top priority for the Senate.
&#8220;The president is constantly critical on mail-in voting, and that&#8217;s ridiculous. It&#8217;s safe,&#8221; Fetterman said. &#8220;Some of the best examples in the country are from red states like Ohio and Florida, of course.&#8221;
&#8220;I can&#8217;t ever vote for that,&#8221; the Democrat added. &#8220;Because I could never agree [with] something that&#8217;s just not true.&#8221;
Fetterman highlighted how Republicans and Democrats passed legislation in Pennsylvania in 2019 to legalize mail-in voting. Two years later, following Trump&#8217;s 2020 loss, many Pennsylvania Republicans filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2019 voting law.
Along with imposing strict voter ID requirements and mail-in ballot rules, the SAVE America Act would also keep men from competing in women’s sports and protect children from gender procedures. Fetterman said he also opposes the effort from Trump and Republicans to pass legislation that would outlaw life-altering gender procedures on minors.
&#8220;That entire community, I refuse to target that or pick on that. It&#8217;s difficult enough for transgender kids, so I think this is the wrong venue to discuss it nationally,&#8221; Fetterman added.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a very personal choice for parents and their children,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And I think it&#8217;s increasingly going to become a more local or maybe state kind of decisions.&#8221;
Fetterman acknowledged that the &#8220;vast majority&#8221; of Americans support requiring people to show ID to register to vote, and he signaled that he would support legislation that focuses solely on enacting stricter voter ID requirements. Recent polls show that more than 80% of Americans back such restrictions.
&#8220;Hey, I&#8217;m not going to tell 83% of Americans that they&#8217;re wrong, or that they&#8217;re Jim Crow,&#8221; he said, referring to a talking point from many Democrats who have claimed that the SAVE America Act would disenfranchise more than 20 million voters and act as &#8220;Jim Crow 2.0.&#8221; Fetterman blasted Democrats&#8217; characterization of the SAVE America Act as &#8220;Jim Crow 2.0.&#8221;
&#8220;I would never refer to the SAVE Act as like Jim Crow 2.0 or some kind of mass conspiracy,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fetterman-slams-democrats-jim-crow-2-0-voter-id-rhetoric-party-unity-fractures">told</a> Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany during an appearance on &#8220;Saturday in America.&#8221;
Fetterman told CBS News that the SAVE America Act doesn&#8217;t stand a chance in the Senate &#8220;because of the filibuster.&#8221; The Democrat admitted that part of the reason he ran for Senate in 2022 was to help his party abolish the filibuster, adding, &#8220;But now we find ourselves as Democrats, we love the filibuster. We cling to that.&#8221;
President Trump has called on Republican leaders to change Senate rules and use the talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, legislation that he has called &#8220;the most popular bill put before Congress.&#8221; Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), however, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-senators-final-plea-to-save-the-save-america-act?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=One+Senator%E2%80%99s+Final+Plea+To+Save+The+SAVE+America+Act">said</a> there isn&#8217;t enough Republican support to use the talking filibuster. Thune is expected to bring the SAVE America Act to the floor for a vote in the near future, but it&#8217;s likely to fall short of the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster.

John Fetterman

‘Can’t Ever Vote For That’: Fetterman Swipes At Trump’s SAVE America Act

john fetterman

A California voter ID proposal could land on the November ballot as debate over federal election policies intensifies.
Roughly 1.3 million petition signatures were submitted for verification — well above the 875,000 threshold required for a constitutional amendment pitch to go before voters, according to <a href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/03/california-voter-id-initiative/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CalMatters</a>.
“This is a true, grassroots, broad-based, bipartisan movement. It’s about good government,” Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-CA) said in a recent video regarding the effort.
“In November, we will strike a blow for democracy. We will improve public trust and confidence in our elections, and the fact that that frightens the establishment politicians who have failed us, we need to keep this bipartisan movement going,” DeMaio added.
Specifically, the initiative would require photo identification for those who choose to vote in person, or “the last four digits of a government-issued identification number when voting by mail.” Secondly, it would require proof of citizenship in order to be registered to vote.
It would also require the Golden State to “provide voter identification cards on request” and for election administrators to provide an annual update on the “percentage of each county’s voters whose citizenship they have verified.”
The amendment, if passed, would have “tens of millions” in “one-time” expenses, as well as “tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars to fulfill new requirements related to elections administration,” according to the Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance <a href="https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ballot-measures/initiative-and-referendum-status/initiatives-referenda-cleared-circulation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimate</a>.
Some of the key ideas in the proposal are similar to those outlined in the SAVE America Act, which President Donald Trump has been urging the Senate to pass.
“It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday.
“MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION &#8211; GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. &amp; PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY &#8211; ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL: NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS: NO TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION FOR CHILDREN! DO NOT FAIL!!!” he wrote.
Opposition to the California-based initiative remains, including from liberal groups such as the League of Women Voters of California and the American Civil Liberties Union.
“This voter ID measure is not about protecting voters; it is about importing the current federal administration’s election lies and intimidation tactics into California,” Jenny Farrell, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of California, said in a March 2 statement. “It would expose voters’ sensitive personal information, create new ways to reject eligible ballots, and wrongly target voters through error-prone citizenship checks.”

Residents Cast Ballots For US Presidential Election During Early Voting Period In California

Voter ID Could Land On Blue State Ballot As Debate Intensifies

Voter ID Proposal To Likely Land On Blue State Ballot Amid Federal Elections Fight

2026 election

Menu