The people have spoken on the issue of election security — most recently, just prior to the 2024 election.
An October 2024 Gallup poll revealed that 84% of U.S. adults favor laws that require "all voters to provide photo identification at their voting place in order to vote."
That same poll found that 83% of U.S. adults favor laws that require "people who are registering to vote for the first time to provide proof of citizenship."
Yet both federal and state lawmakers have been dragging their heels on the issue.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reported that as of July 2025, 14 states plus the District of Columbia require no identification at all to vote.
Of the remaining 36 states, 24 are described as photo-ID jurisdictions, and 12 permit non-photo ID, which, on the surface is somewhat encouraging — until you dig deeper.
Of the 24 photo-ID states, only 10 require photo ID. The remaining 14 only request photo ID. Similarly, only three non-photo ID states actually require it; the remaining nine only request it.
Michigan is one of those photo ID states that merely gives it lip service, and the problem begins before anyone casts a vote, according to Monica Yatooma, a candidate for Michigan Secretary of State.
"Did you know you can register to vote at a Secretary of State kiosk inside grocery stores like Kroger in Michigan?" she asked.
"Here’s what many people don't realize: you are not required to show documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering at these kiosks — only a signed attestation.
"Now connect the dots," Yatooma continued, and connected them for us as follows:
- Michigan issued approximately 950,000 driver's licenses between 2020–2021, even as the state’s population was shrinking.
- Driver's licenses are tied to voter registration records and absentee ballots
- Non-citizens in Michigan can legally obtain driver’s licenses. That is a fact.
"Election integrity is not partisan," she concluded. "It's foundational."
Another candidate for Michigan Secretary of State revealed that non-citizens are already taking advantage of this slipshod system.
When Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini noticed a growing number of non-citizens being called for jury duty, alarm bells began sounding.
Only U.S. citizens may serve as jurors.
"Non-citizens are coming through at an alarming rate. Our jury service summons are based on random draws from the driver's license bank.
"Frequently non-citizens slip through because citizenship was not flagged in the Secretary of State database," Forlini said in a press release earlier this month.
So he asked his staff to check the names of disqualified jurors against the Secretary of State’s Qualified Voter File (QVF).
"What we have found is very disturbing — 239 non-citizens were found in the jury pool over a four-month period. In a cross check of our voter rolls it appears that 14 of these prospective jurors were registered to vote at some point in time," Forlini continued.
To recap, he found 239 non-citizens in the jury pool, 14 of whom were registered voters, in one Michigan county (out of 83) within a single four-month period.
"Our QVF shows instances where some of these non-citizens potentially having a voting history. One in particular appears to have voted several times, all of which could result in felony charges."
GOP voter registration activist Scott Presler called this "one of the biggest stories of the year!" yet legacy media outlets have largely ignored it.
It's stories like this that prompted Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, to remark, "That’s why we need the SAVE Act."
The SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act), would require:
—Documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration in federal elections.
—In-person presentation of documents in most cases.
—States to maintain voter rolls, remove those who die or move out of the district.
It would also make election officials both civilly and criminally liable if they fail to follow the law’s provisions.
But the SAVE Act has languished in the Senate after it was approved by the House, due to the Senate’s inability to meet its 60-vote filibuster rule.
Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, listed four goals Sunday, "that should be our focus to grow our economy and protect the American Dream for future generations."
They are:
—Put America first.
—Balance the budget.
—Secure our elections.
—Stop the reckless spending.
Given that more than eight out of 10 U.S. adults favor both photo ID at the polls and proof of citizenship at registration, the Democratic Party's resistance to the SAVE Act can only be explained as a desire to cheat.
And that's why we need strong election safeguards at both the federal and state levels.
Without them we'll no longer be the leader of the free world; America would become another tin pot dictatorship.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read more Michael Dorstewitz's Insider articles — Click Here Now.
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