Democrats Oppose Voter ID Laws Because They Would Lose Elections
Source: Brianna Lyman. "WaPo Admits Many Democrat Voters Can't Prove They're Citizens." May 4, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that Democrats don't want to require proof of citizenship for voting because research shows this would hurt them in elections, especially in swing states. She suggests their opposition isn't about protecting voting rights but about protecting their electoral chances.
Conclusion
Democrats oppose the SAVE America Act requiring documentary proof of citizenship because it would disadvantage them electorally, not because of principled concerns about voting rights
Premises
- Not a single Senate Democrat supports the SAVE America Act, which requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote
- Yale research shows Democrats are less likely than Republicans to possess qualifying citizenship documents in key states like New Mexico (13 percentage points) and Nevada (5.3 percentage points)
- The SAVE Act would flip New Mexico from competitive to Republican-leaning and push Nevada from battleground to 'comfortably Republican'
- There are approximately 4 million currently registered voters who lack documentary proof of citizenship
- The current system relies only on an honor system checkbox attesting to citizenship status
- Evidence exists that noncitizens do vote in elections
Assumptions
- People who cannot provide documentary proof of citizenship are likely noncitizens
- Democrats' opposition is primarily motivated by electoral advantage rather than principled concerns
- The Yale researchers' statistical projections accurately predict electoral outcomes
- Documentary proof requirements would effectively prevent noncitizen voting
- Current voter registration safeguards are inadequate