In a party-line vote, an amendment to require photo identification (ID) for voting in federal elections failed to clear a key procedural hurdle in the Senate March 26, falling short of the 60 votes needed to proceed.
The amendment, offered by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, to the broader Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, failed in a 53-47 cloture vote. It would have required voters to present a valid government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, state ID card, U.S. passport, military ID, or tribal ID when casting ballots in person, and to provide a copy of such ID when voting by mail. Those unable to provide ID could submit the last four digits of their Social Security number along with an affidavit.
No Democrats supported the amendment, even though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said Democrats support photo ID requirements. Schumer told reporters in a March 15 press call that Democrats included a voter ID provision in their Freedom to Vote Act, which they introduced in 2021 when they controlled the Senate.
The photo ID requirement is one provision debated as part of the broader SAVE America Act, which the Senate is debating this week. But Husted said his amendment would give every Democrat the opportunity to express their views on record as a standalone issue.
“We’re going to take them at their word and offer an opportunity to turn those words into action,” Husted said on the floor before the vote. “The Senate will take a roll call vote on a clean, simple, straightforward amendment of mine to require a photo ID to vote in American elections. Nothing more. Straightforward. That’s it.”
Schumer, however, argued on the floor that Husted’s amendment would suppress votes in upcoming elections. He called the amendment a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and a “giant cover-up” of “voter suppression, kicking people off the rolls without their knowledge or consent.”
As Zeale News previously reported, polling shows that the majority of Americans support photo ID requirements for voting.