Wisconsin Republican’s U.S. Senator doesn’t agree with President Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to nationalize elections. Ron Johnson was asked to comment on the president’s remarks during a telephone town hall on Tuesday.
“I do not want to see us nationalizing elections. I do believe it’s fitting and proper to set some basic standards for federal elections, like only citizens can vote in federal elections. You’ve got jurisdictions that are allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections. Once they’re registered, that bleeds into federal elections, I fear.”
Johnson also said photo ID should be required to vote everywhere, as it is in Wisconsin.
“Poll after poll, over 80% of Americans, Democrat, independent, Republican, think voter ID is just fine. You know, we have to show an ID to fly. Nobody, nobody wants their legitimate vote canceled out by a fraudulent vote. So that ought to be a basic national standard.”
During an extended monologue about immigration on a podcast released by former deputy F.B.I. director Dan Bongino, Trump called for Republican officials to “take over” voting procedures in unnamed 15 states. In a subsequent interview he called for the Republican Party to “nationalize” voting in the United States.
Johnson, who accused Democrats of wanting to “make it easy to cheat” said he also supports provisions of the newly reintroduced SAVE Act, including requiring proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate or passport when registering to vote. Millions of Americans don’t have a passport or a paper copy of their birth certificate.