WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Tuesday narrowly agreed to take up a voting bill that President Trump says is essential for the survival of the country, and opponents argue will disenfranchise millions of Americans.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican who voted not to open debate on the Save America Act. It would require voters to show photo ID at the polls and provide proof of citizenship to register. The devil is in the details, according to Murkowski.
“People around the country are looking at this and saying, ‘This should be a no-brainer. Of course U.S. citizens should be the ones that have the right to vote. Of course it is not unreasonable to require voter ID. What's the problem here?’” she said. “But you need to not be afraid to just peel this back and look at the implementation.”
Murkowski has a long list of items in the bill that she says would make it harder for Alaskans to cast a ballot. She cites, among other things, the requirement that new registrants present citizenship documents to an elections official in person. That, she said, might require an 18-year-old who lives in Unalaska to spend more than $1,000 on an airplane ticket, and hopefully she has an official copy of her birth certificate in hand.
“But if she doesn't, it's a two month wait right now at Vital Statistics to get the certified documents that you need,” Murkowski said.
An amendment Trump is pressing for would eliminate voting by mail, except for people who are ill, away on a military assignment or a few other circumstances.
More than 50,000 Alaskans voted by mail in the last general election.
Murkowski wonders who would decide whether an elderly voter is infirm enough to avoid having to cast her vote in person.
“How is this attestation made?” Murkowski said. “Maybe she should have just put her boots on and gone out. I mean, these are some of the things that I'm looking at, and I'm saying this disenfranchises Alaskans.”
Proponents of the bill say Alaska would have reasonable options. Ken Cuccinelli, who served in the first Trump administration, said for new registrations, the state could periodically send an elections official to the roughly 250 Alaska communities that are off the road system and don’t have a Division of Elections office.
“If you don't want citizens to have to come to the election officials, then election officials need to go to the citizens,” said Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general.
He said the state also needs to make it easier for voters to get their birth certificates.
The state would need to move quickly. The Save Act would stiffen voter registration requirements immediately after the president signs it.
It’s not clear he’ll have that chance.
Just 51 senators voted Tuesday to start debate. That’s far short of the 60 votes it would take to overcome a filibuster.
