Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., blasted Democrats for opposing the SAVE America Act after it passed the House, telling Newsmax on Thursday that those who vote against voter identification protections are effectively backing election fraud.
“I was surprised that more didn’t come over,” McCormick said on “National Report,” referring to the lack of Democrat support in Wednesday's House vote. He added that he expected “two or three others” to join Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas in backing the measure.
The SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship and voter identification safeguards in federal elections, cleared the House but faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster.
McCormick argued that voter ID requirements are common-sense protections already widely accepted in daily life.
“Most people realize that ID is required for almost anything. The ID is free,” he said.
He dismissed Democrats' claims that stricter ID rules would disenfranchise voters, instead warning that failing to require identification invites fraud.
“How many people need to be disenfranchised before you say there can be and there will be fraud?” McCormick said. “It’s a ridiculous assumption that if you don’t have ID you’re not going to have fraud. You’re going to have fraud. Maybe you can’t count it because you can’t prove it. That’s exactly what they want.”
McCormick predicted the legislation would ultimately prevail and urged senators to reconsider their opposition.
“We’re on the right side of history on this. I think it’s going to pass. I hope the Senate has the common sense to pass this,” he said. “And if they don’t, they’re on the wrong side of history once again.”
The Georgia lawmaker also pointed to what he called hypocrisy from Democrats who oppose voter ID laws but enforce identification requirements at their own events.
“In my state, a certain senator, [Jon] Ossoff, had a huge gathering. And you know what they required for everybody who attended? Photo IDs, government-issued. And I rest my case,” McCormick said. “That’s a senator on the left side who won’t vote for this.”
McCormick went further, accusing Democrats of prioritizing political power over election integrity.
“They want to win elections. This is about power, not about anything else, not about fairness,” he said. “They know they’re cheating. They want to support cheating. They want to win elections, and they can’t do it the right way. So they’re going to do it the wrong way.”
He added that Democrats “vilify" Republicans to justify their stance.
“They make us the bad guys. So therefore cheating is OK as long as you're going against the bad guys, somebody who they have labeled as evil,” he said.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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