General Discussion

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) says the SAVE America Act, President Trump’s No. 1 legislative priority, is “dead” on Capitol Hill because there is not enough time to change election laws before the midterms — even if Senate Republicans muster 60 votes for the legislation, which is unlikely.

“Unless they do the work to get to the 60 votes, they know it’s dead, and so all this is theater,” Tillis told The News & Observer, repeating arguments he has made in Washington calling on GOP colleagues to move on to other priorities.

The North Carolina Republican continued, saying even if the election reform bill passes, there is no chance it is implemented before the Nov. 3 general election. The legislation — titled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act — would require proof of citizenship for people registering to vote and for voters to show photo IDs to cast ballots.

The senator, who is not running for reelection, noted that it took his state a full year to implement voter ID requirements.

“Honestly, here in North Carolina, or in virtually any state, the ability, if we go back to when we implemented voter ID in North Carolina, it took a year to get everything in place with adequate funding,” he said.