Senate Democrat Says SAVE Act Would Make It ‘Hard for Any Democrat in Any State to Win Any Election’

The White House responded after a Senate Democrat said part of President Donald Trump’s preferred election law, the SAVE America Act, would “rig our democracy” and make it hard for any Democrat to win an election.

In a recently resurfaced video of her remarks at the Indiana Democrat Party’s state convention on June 6, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., bragged about blocking the SAVE Act.

“The other thing that we blocked yesterday was the SAVE Act, right?” she said to loud cheers. She claimed that act “would liberally allow this administration to rig our democracy so that it would be hard for any Democrat in any state to win any election.” She also claimed it would “disenfranchise all married women in the meantime.”

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, condemned Slotkin’s comments.

“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,’” she told the Daily Signal.

Slotkin’s office did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time.

The SAVE Act and SAVE America Act

Slotkin had celebrated the failure of the SAVE Act, a bill amending the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to vote. While that bill, H.R. 22, passed the House of Representatives, 220-208, in April, the Senate vote to add the bill to an immigration package failed, 48-50, in early June.

President Trump has advocated H.R. 7296, the SAVE America Act, which includes the SAVE Act provisions but also includes other election integrity measures, such as requiring states to use federal databases to verify voter rolls. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has called on Congress to honor Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who passed away Saturday night, by passing the SAVE America Act.

Supporters say the bills are necessary to ensure that only legal citizens vote, especially following President Joe Biden’s tenure, in which approximately 10 million illegal aliens entered the country. Opponents say the legislation aims to make it more difficult for people to vote, to give Republicans an edge in the 2026 midterm elections.

While a 2024 Pew Research Center survey suggested women overall lean Democrat, it found a majority of married women identify as Republican.

‘False and Irresponsible’

Donald Palmer, senior legal fellow for election integrity at the Heritage Foundation, condemned Slotkin’s comments.

“To say that confirming citizenship of voters is ‘rigging elections’ is false and irresponsible,” Palmer told the Daily Signal. “Senator Slotkin is desperately trying to stoke the fears of potential supporters by throwing out these false claims.”

“More importantly, she is simply ignoring the opinions of voters of all races and party preference who universally support photo ID and citizenship verification in polling across the country,” he added. “She knows she is on the wrong side of an 85-15 issue and that’s not a great place for a politician.”