Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is standing firm on her decision against a federal elections overhaul bill that could affect thousands of Alaskans.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sen. Lisa Murkowski , R-Alaska, is standing firm on her decision against a federal elections overhaul bill that could affect thousands of Alaskans. Murkowski has been one of the few vocal GOP senators against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — also known as the SAVE America Act.
The bill would require voters to provide proof of citizenship to cast a ballot,that millions of Americans could be purged from voter rolls, including those who may not have access to their birth certificate or who have legally changed their name. “I do support that the right to vote should be reserved to citizens, and I do believe that it is reasonable that identification be provided when an individual does vote, but it’s all in the implementation,” Murkowski told Alaska’s News Source Friday morning. ”Implementation matters, and the context of it matters.” On Thursday, Murkowski spoke on the Senate Floor about the act and how it could affect Alaskans, especially given Alaska’s geography. She also noted that Tribal IDs would no longer be accepted as valid ID, and that older Alaskans born before statehood would face significant hurdles obtaining a birth certificate.“They should set their own requirements based on what works for them, because we cannot shift to a system that works for many rightful voters, but not all, and particularly so close to Election Day and with no funding for the states to implement new mandates,” she said. Murkowski said she received positive feedback after her speech and that the bill’s sponsor acknowledged Alaska’s unique position. “The requirements for proof of documentation of citizenship to be presented in person to a division of election site — we only have six in the entire state,” she said. “So that disenfranchises the 20% of the Alaskan electorate that are not on the road system; 83% of our communities are not on the road system.” Murkowski submitted several amendments to the SAVE America Act, which she says will help Alaskans in this regard. Of the amendments she submitted, most include the provision about communities not connected to a road system.Another would ask for states that can demonstrate that incidents of noncitizen voting in elections for Federal office are less than 0.05% to be exempt from this bill. Lawmakers plan to vote on the bill within the next week; however, the SAVE America Act does not currently have the votes needed to break a potential Democrat-led filibuster in the Senate.Sled dog dies on Iditarod trail en route to Elim checkpoint, officials sayAn Anchorage woman froze to death. A lawsuit claims a 911 dispatcher failed to get her urgent help.‘My heart is just pumping’: Families cheer on students at Alaska State Spelling Bee
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