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Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) America Act would make it harder for Democrats to win elections — prompting Republicans to argue she had finally said “the quiet part out loud” about Democrats’ opposition to stricter election laws.
Slotkin made the remarks in a video recently unearthed by Breitbart News that was recorded the day after the Senate narrowly rejected the SAVE America Act in June. The bill failed 48–50 after four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it.
The SAVE America Act has become one of the biggest legislative fights in Congress, as President Donald Trump has made its passage his top priority. Trump refused to sign a housing bill Friday to protest against Congress’ failure to pass the SAVE America Act.
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During a June 6 address to Indiana’s state Democratic Party, Slotkin celebrated the Senate’s rejection of the SAVE America Act, in which she claimed the bill would allow the Trump administration to “rig our democracy.”
“It would be hard for any Democrat in any state to win any election,” Slotkin said of the SAVE America Act.
Slotkin did not explain how the legislation would hurt Democratic politicians.
The SAVE America Act would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and photo identification to cast a ballot in federal elections, and mandates that states take additional steps to remove noncitizens from voter rolls.
Trump argued for months that Democrats opposed the SAVE America Act because it would make it harder to “cheat” in elections, claiming the party benefits politically from weak voter verification measures and the votes of people who are not eligible to vote.
During his Feb. 24 State of the Union address, Trump urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, arguing Democrats oppose voter ID because “the only way they can get elected is to cheat.”
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“And the reason they don’t want to do it — why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason: because they want to cheat. There’s only one reason. They make up all excuses,” Trump said. “They say, ‘It’s racist.’ They come up with things — you almost say, ‘What imagination they have.’ They want to cheat, they have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat, and we’re going to stop it.”
But the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonprofit election policy group that describes itself as nonpartisan, has found that voter registration of noncitizens is rare.
“When investigations do turn up rare instances of improper registration or voting, officials take swift action to ensure that American elections remain secure,” according to the Center for Election Innovation & Research.
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Slotkin also alleged that the SAVE America Act would make it more difficult for married women to vote, saying a woman would have to show her birth certificate at the polls.
Critics of the bill argue the requirement could create additional hurdles for some married women who changed their last names after marriage because the name on their birth certificate may not match their current identification. In those cases, voters may need to provide additional documentation, such as a marriage certificate.
Republican Congressional members slammed Slotkin.
“Democrats are saying the quiet part out loud,” Rep. Tony Wied wrote on X Tuesday. “They know they can’t win on their own merit.”
“This talking point from the Left is not only false, but it also paints women as incapable, which we all know is not the case,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also wrote on X Tuesday. “Showing up to the polls to vote with an ID that proves you’re an American citizen – whether you’re married or not – is common sense. We need to pass the SAVE America Act.”
“By that same logic, no married woman in America could fill out an I-9 form—which every American must do when starting a new job,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X on Tuesday. “This is absurd. And it highlights why we need to pass the SAVE America Act.”
Slotkin’s office referred Fox News Digital to a June video of Slotkin in which the Michigan Democrat said Trump told Congress that if Republicans lose the 2026 midterms, the election was “rigged.”
“In the State of the Union, while we were all sitting on the House floor, he said again that if his side doesn’t win in November 2026, the election was rigged,” Slotkin said in the video, referring to Trump.
A Fox News Digital review of Trump’s State of the Union address found Trump did not make that statement. Instead, Trump argued Democrats “wan to cheat” and that “the only way they can get elected is to cheat.” He also said Republicans could face impeachment if they lose the midterms.
“They want to cheat, they have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat,” he said. “And we’re going to stop it.”
In the video, Slotkin also accused Trump of trying to federalize elections, pointing to an unsigned draft executive order drafted after the 2020 election that proposed using the National Guard to seize voting machines. The order was never signed or carried out.
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Meanwhile, the White House dismissed Slotkin’s claims about the SAVE America hurting Democrats.
“If securing America’s elections – through commonsense methods like voter ID and proof of citizenship – will make it impossible for Democrats to win elections, perhaps they should reconsider the methods they’re using to ‘win,’” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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