Conservative activist Scott Presler fired back this week after Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) argued in a Friday op-ed that the SAVE America Act would disenfranchise rural Alaskans and could not be implemented in time for November.
Murkowski made her case in the Wall Street Journal and pushed it out again in a post on X. She told followers she backs voter ID and wants only citizens voting. The bill, she argued, goes too far.
“I support voter ID and believe that only U.S. citizens should vote in our elections,” the Alaska senator wrote. “But the SAVE America Act goes beyond that and provides no time for proper implementation. It would ultimately disenfranchise some Americans in rural communities, so I oppose it.”
In the op-ed, Murkowski claimed the measure would effectively end online registration by requiring documentary proof of citizenship in person, pointing to just six election offices in a state where she said roughly 80 percent of communities and about 20 percent of the population are not connected by road. She argued that an 18-year-old in Savoonga could spend more than $1,000 in airfare and lodging just to register.
Presler was not buying it.
“That’s just not true,” the activist wrote in a reply. “No person would be turned away from voting. Any person without documentation would be able to sign an attestation. The SAVE America Act does NOT require proof of citizenship for those already registered to vote.”
The founder of Early Vote Action challenged Murkowski to draft a fix rather than kill the bill.
“Why don’t you suggest an amendment which would allow remote Alaskan voters to attach a copy of their proof of citizenship + photo ID to an absentee ballot?” Presler wrote.
He also dismissed the senator’s timing argument, noting the Senate had months to act.
“It’s completely disingenuous to say you don’t have the time to implement the SAVE America Act when you could have passed it last year,” Presler added. He said he plans to travel to Alaska to hear from voters directly.
The clash comes as the bill sits stalled in the Senate. It has not moved since the House passed it in February.
Murkowski was the only Republican to vote against opening debate back in March. She later teamed up with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to kill an effort to bolt the measure onto an immigration funding package.
Now some Senate conservatives are floating another route, tying it to a short-term spending bill before the September 30 funding deadline.
