At a Tea Party Patriot’s rally last week to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, prominent anti-voting activist Cleta Mitchell called on Congress to pass a “Super SAVE Act,” that goes further to disenfranchise voters than the current version before the Senate.

Wednesday, September 17

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Last week I covered a Tea Party Patriot’s rally at the U.S. Capitol in support of the SAVE Act, where anti-voting activist Cleta Mitchell called on Congress to pass a “Super SAVE Act.” Also in this week’s Eye On The Right: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said he won’t be bullied into pardoning Tina Peters, the Trump administration cracks down on progressive organizations in the wake of the Charlie Kirk murder and more.

As always, thanks for reading.

Matt Cohen, senior reporter



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Cleta Mitchell’s ‘Super SAVE Act’

- At a Tea Party Patriot’s rally last week to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, prominent anti-voting activist Cleta Mitchell called ([link removed] ) on Congress to pass a “Super SAVE Act,” that goes further to disenfranchise voters than the current version before the Senate.

- Mitchell said the stronger measure should “codify the work that is being done by the Department of Homeland Security, where they will review your voter rolls for free for a state and identify any non-citizens so those can be removed.”

- Other speakers at the rally included Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who sponsored the SAVE Act in the House, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who sponsored the bill in the Senate and Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray (R), who said that Democrats “don’t have primaries anymore, that’s why they have coronations, it is a distinct minority of our country that is putting forward this radical opposition.”

- Former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who served as deputy secretary of Homeland Security during Trump’s first term, also spoke at the rally. In his speech, he suggested that people who can’t speak English should be stopped from registering to vote, since they probably aren’t citizens. “Having sworn in U.S. citizens, there’s an English-learning component to that requirement,” he said “So that’s a pretty good clue.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis suggests he might pardon Tina Peters

- Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), who is term-limited and thus not running for reelection, was interviewed ([link removed] ) last week at Colorado Mesa University and was asked about the possibility of pardoning Tina Peters, the former GOP Colorado election clerk and conspiracy theorist who was sentenced to nine years in prison for her role in a voting system data breach.

- Despite growing pressure from President Donald Trump, Polis said he wouldn’t pardon Peters for political reasons, like more favorable treatment from the federal government. But he didn’t rule out pardoning Peters because of her age or health, and said that he’s “pardoned people that are in their 70s and ill.”

- “We use the power of the pardon and commutations very seriously. Would we look at this on humanitarian grounds if she's old or sick and so she doesn't die in prison? I do that. I do pardons for that reason, and I would treat her the same way,” Polis said.

- Peters, who is 70 and a lung cancer survivor, recently wrote to Trump to “set her free.” Trump recently threatened ([link removed] ) “harsh measures” if she isn’t released soon.

The RNC wants DOJ to investigate Maine’s secretary of state

- In a letter ([link removed] ) to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Republican National Committee (RNC) accused Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) of violating federal voting laws for not allowing them access to the state’s voter rolls. The RNC asked DOJ to launch an “immediate federal investigation” into Bellows.

- The RNC claimed that Bellows only provided some election records — including policies, procedures, and training manuals for list maintenance, when it asked for access to all voter records. The RNC alleged that this violates the National Voter Registration Act’s requirement to make “all records” available for inspection, including the state’s voter rolls.

- “It is disappointing but not surprising that the RNC is yet again lying about Maine’s safe and secure elections to score political points," Bellows said in a statement ([link removed] ) about the RNC’s letter. "I stand by the integrity and professionalism of Maine’s dedicated state election officials who work hard every day to respond to questions that come into our offices, no matter who is asking them and how offensive or inaccurate their allegations are.”

EAC chair posts unhinged rant about ‘Criminals And Lunatics’ in ‘Big Cities’

- Donald Palmer, the Trump-appointed chair of the independent, nonpartisan Election Assistance Commission, posted ([link removed] ) an unhinged rant on social media last week about the failure of “big city politicians" to control crime.

- “Trust in government after watching the slaughter of the lambs in Charlotte [is way down],” Palmer wrote. “They won’t protect you! Or give a crap about you! criminals and lunatics run the streets because they are their constituents of big city politicians. Don’t let your family or innocents out of eyeshot.”

- Palmer was responding to the recent killing ([link removed] ) of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte, N.C., which conservatives have been highlighting to make the case that crime is out of control in large cities run by Democrats.

- This isn’t the first time that Palmer has taken steps that could call his impartiality into question. At a congressional hearing this year, he said ([link removed] ) states should end grace periods for mail ballots — a key GOP goal. And in 2023, he was criticized ([link removed] ) for appearing at a private meeting organized by conservative supporters of restrictive voting rules.

After Charlie Kirk’s murder, Trump and allies vow to ‘destroy’ progressive groups

- Days after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder, the Trump administration started exploiting the tragedy to escalate its anti-democratic crackdown on progressive activism — even vowing to “destroy” philanthropic groups.

- On Monday, Vice President JD Vance hosted Kirk’s podcast from the White House and downplayed political violence stemming from the political right, claiming that “people on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence.”

- “This is not a both-sides problem,” Vance said. “If both sides have a problem, then one side has a much bigger and malignant problem and that is the truth.”

- It’s unclear how, exactly, the Trump administration plans to go after liberal and progressive groups, but some of the ones Vance named during his broadcast included Open Society Foundations, a progressive grant network founded by Democratic megadonor George Soros, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks right-wing extremism, and the Ford Foundation, another progressive philanthropic organization.

- My colleague Jacob Knutson, who covers the Trump accountability beat, will be closely tracking how the administration plans to further crack down on Democratic institutions in the wake of Kirk’s assasination. Follow him ([link removed] ) for the latest updates.

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