Senate Republicans are marketing Colombia's election system as a model for overhauling American voting procedures, using the South American nation's recent election as ammunition in their push for stricter ballot access rules.
The strategy centers on Colombia's voting infrastructure: mandatory national ID cards, paper ballots only, and no mail-in voting. The country counted its ballots in three hours following its recent election. Republicans want the U.S. to adopt similar measures and are specifically contrasting Colombia's approach with California's voting practices to highlight what they see as lax security.
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida laid out the comparison plainly in a memo to colleagues ahead of this week's Senate Republican lunch with Trump, calling Colombia's election system exactly what the Trump administration has been proposing.
The gambit reflects frustration among GOP lawmakers over their limited leverage on voting legislation. Trump's SAVE Act, which would require voter ID, proof of citizenship for voter registration, and curtail mail-in voting, has stalled with no clear path forward in the Senate. Democrats oppose it entirely, and some Republicans are wary of the mail-in restrictions.
Nevertheless, Trump allies are weaponizing Colombia's experience to keep pressure on party leadership. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio told Trump Jr. on a podcast that GOP senators are considering a hearing featuring California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Colombian officials to directly compare the two election systems. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security investigations subcommittee, suggested Republicans might subpoena Newsom if he doesn't voluntarily appear.
During a closed-door Republican lunch Tuesday, Moreno, who was in Colombia during the election last week, shared an anecdote that underscored the voting ID gap between the nations. When he asked Colombian officials what happens when someone arrives to vote without an ID, they were baffled because the situation doesn't occur.
The GOP's fixation on Colombia's model reflects Trump's broader demand that lawmakers prioritize voting restrictions as a legislative priority. But the appetite for such changes in Congress remains limited, with Democrats blocking the path and some Republicans hesitant to support cuts to mail-in voting access.
Author James Rodriguez: "Using another country's election system as a legislative cudgel only works if your own party has the votes to back it up, and the numbers don't add up here."
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