North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis has dismissed the possibility of passing and rolling out the “SAVE Act” ahead of the November election, calling the timeline completely unrealistic for anyone familiar with election law.
Logistical Hurdles
In an interview with CBS News, Tillis explained that congressional reality and logistical hurdles stand firmly in the way. “It’s quite simple. It’s a math problem,” Tillis told CBS News. “We simply don’t have the votes, and the SAVE Act will not be implemented in time for this election. Anybody that knows anything about election law understands that.”
Tillis pointed to his own legislative track record to back up his assessment, noting that he previously oversaw the passage of voter ID laws during his tenure as the speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Implementation Challenges
According to Tillis, attempting to roll out an expansive federal overhaul to voting systems with only months remaining would cause severe disruptions. He noted that while the general election takes place in November, election officials must manage early voting windows and voter registration deadlines much earlier in the autumn.
“If anybody thinks that you’re going to implement something as expansive as the SAVE Act in two months — see, everybody’s coming out in November, right? That’s five months away, but people will be doing some early voting. People will have to deal with registrations,” Tillis said. “Does any rational person who’s ever had any experience with implementing election law really think that it’s possible to have all that in place in time for this election and not be disruptive?”
The North Carolina senator also highlighted a lack of financial resources tied to the proposal, pointing out that local and state governments would be left to absorb the administrative costs. “Incidentally, it’s an unfunded mandate that has zero dollars for implementation,” Tillis noted.
Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.