Trump vows to block legislation pending passage of voter ID law

US President Donald Trump has stated that he will not sign any new legislation until Congress passes a bill aimed at increasing identification requirements for US voters. The SAVE America Act, which already passed the House of Representatives in February, seeks to enhance standards for proof of citizenship when registering to vote and increased proof of identity when casting a ballot on Election Day.

Trump’s stance underscores his continued focus on election administration ahead of the November midterm elections. The bill would also impose criminal penalties on election officials who register anyone without the required documentation, and require states to run their voter rolls against a federal database to identify any non-citizen voters.

The Senate has vowed to block the bill, which requires 60 votes to pass. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has described the legislation as “Jim Crow 2.0”, referring to racial segregation laws in the US that restricted Black voting rights. Trump’s refusal to sign other legislation beyond the voting bill has raised concerns about potential gridlock in the Senate.

The president’s party historically underperforms in midterm votes, and public opinion polls on various issues have raised questions about the Republican Party’s prospects. Trump has called for his party to “nationalise” elections, which are administered by state officials. Voting rights advocates have expressed concerns that increased documentation requirements could lead to disenfranchisement of certain segments of the population.

The Justice Department has pressured states to hand over their voter rolls, a move several states are currently challenging in court as “illegal”. In January, the FBI seized 2020 voting records and ballots in a raid on an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia. The state is central to Trump’s claim that his election loss was the result of vote tampering, although he has not provided evidence for these claims.

Source: Al Jazeera