Donald Trump is salivating over getting the SAVE America Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, sigh) passed in time for the midterms. The law is a greatest-hits of voting fraud conspiracy theorist demands: stricter ID requirements including proof of citizenship and government-issued photo ID, all of which has to be presented in person at an election office. Studies show that these measures will prevent an estimated 21.3 million Americans from voting who are perfectly eligible to do so. And that’s the point, because Republicans know that the best way for them to win elections is when less people vote.
The same can be said of SAVE itself — the more representatives and senators on hand to cast a vote, the less likely it is this bill gets passed. But Donny doesn’t deal in reality, so his most loyal minions are dutifully trying to drum up support. Their latest tactic is a real humdinger. House Republicans are citing the policies of Olive Garden as justification for stricter voting ID requirements. They boiled the argument down to: “If you need a photo ID to get all-you-can-eat pasta, you should need a photo ID to vote.” This is our government, folks.
Olive Garden brought back its Never-Ending Pasta Pass this month. Witht he promotion come rules: For $100, a guest has access to 13 weeks of all-you-can-eat pasta at any participating location, as long as they present the pass and a photo ID.
House Republicans have adopted that last detail in their push for stricter national voter ID laws, arguing that if Americans have to show a photo ID to eat never-ending pasta at the chain, they should also be required to show a photo ID to cast a vote.
“Nowadays, if you want to go to Olive Garden and get unlimited pasta, you’ve got to show a picture ID,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said Tuesday. “This isn’t complicated stuff.”
Republicans have been demanding national voter ID laws as part of the Save America Act, a piece of legislation that would reform elections nationwide and that has the backing of President Donald Trump.
Other Republicans, including Reps. David Kustoff (Tennessee) and Virginia Foxx (North Carolina), also have cited the Olive Garden talking point this week.
Representatives for Olive Garden did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the chain has stated on X that to access the Never-Ending Pasta deal, customers must present their personalized and non-transferrable pasta pass alongside a photo ID to prevent fraudulent pasta sales.
I was thrilled to see that the comments to the WaPo article are a delectable treat. Valid questions were raised, like “Does a word salad come with an order of unending false equivalency?” and “Could you get never ending voting with the right ID?” My compliments to the chefs of those barbs. As long as false equivalency is on the menu, let’s break it down course by course. For starters (appetizer pun!), invoking Olive Garden in the name of stamping out voter fraud is an undercooked move given that the restaurant has been credibly accused of committing CHEESE FRAUD! But where they really fry the comparison, is that the 13-week all-you-can-eat pasta promotion at Olive Garden is a monetary transaction; Olive Garden asks to see the special pass and photo ID because it’s a business trying not to lose more money than they already are on this gluttonous deal. (Well, that and they’re amusing themselves by tracking how different diners look from their ID pics after 13 weeks of unlimited pasta.) Voting, on the other hand, is a constitutional right. We do not pay for the privilege, it is endowed to us as citizens. What I find so offensive about SAVE is the underlying assumption that we’re malevolent actors out to pull one over on our government by any illegal means necessary. Donald Trump: leader of the Hector Projector Party.
Photos credit: Avalon.red, Olive Garden Press Site
I didn’t get a Pasta Pass this year (I clicked immediately and it said there were 60,000 people in line ahead of me!), but I have gotten one five other times when they used to do it pre-pandemic, and I can tell you that even though it does have “must show photo ID” on it, nobody ever checks. The servers making $3/hr don’t give a crap who uses it. Also, lots of states already do require photo ID. The Republicans are LYING about what this bill requires which is proof of citizenship, not just a photo ID. The petty part of me would almost like to see it pass just to see all the MAGAts get turned away from the polls when they show up with just a driver license.
So you can register for this pass online? Easily? That seems better than registering to vote in most US states.
And unlike what I’ve heard about people voting in the US, Olive Garden will still sell you some pasta even if you don’t have a pass. They don’t deny you!
Right! You can still come into the restaurant & order some pasta! It’s not even close to the same thing! They’re pitifully bad in their false equivalency.
So, I guess they’re saying you can use your Olive Garden pass as ID when you vote now.
I do recall reading about a fellow who tried to use his Costco card to board a plane (didn’t work).
So question for you Americans,
When you register to vote or go to a polling station, you aren’t asked any kind of ID, like at all?
Or why is this becoming a thing with republicans?
I always thought the general ID for Americans was either passport or driver’s license and I thought those were required to vote in the USA.
It varies because each state controls its own elections. I move about every two years, and the last few times I’ve moved I have registered to vote at the same time I got my new state driver license. The last time I didn’t get it at the DMV, I remember mailing in an application that I got at the public library and then I got something back that I had to sign and return again. Every state I have lived in has asked for photo ID when I showed up to vote in person, although I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t show my ID. I voted by mail in 2020 (pandemic) and now I live in a state that is 100% mail-in ballots. Yes, driver license and passport are the main forms of photo ID here, but you can also apply for a valid state-issued photo ID that is not a driver license, it’s just personal identification (I think elderly people or people with seizure disorders who can’t drive use these).
@Fernando
My first election I voted in was in 2000, the day after my 18th birthday. I started as an election worker in 2008 and worked nearly every election (local, primaries, and national) until the 2016.
In 2000, I didn’t have a driver’s license, nor did I have a passport. I did have a permit, but at the time, they weren’t photo IDs, just a flimsy sheet of paper I folded up in a pocket in my purse. I registered to vote when I got my permit. I had to show my birth certificate, my school records (which had my address on it) and my dad showed a utility bill for confirmation of address. I received a voter registration card in the mail about a month before the election although it wasn’t valid until my 18th birthday. You had to sign it, and that was it. They verified your eligibility when you registered. At the time, you just went to the polls, where they had a huge physical book of registered voters in that precinct; you showed your voter registration card OR your photo ID, they found your name in the book, and you signed by your name in a designated spot. That was the proof you voted, and you obviously couldn’t sign twice. You could NOT vote out of precinct unless there were unusual circumstances, which required a whole heap of work on the election workers’ behalf to confirm AND a sign off from the ‘election judge’, the person overseeing that particular precinct’s election. (The term election judge, from what I understand is unofficial, but that’s the terminology we used when I worked the elections in my town).
In 2008, they still had physical books where I lived, but my state had *just* passed ID laws. We were instructed to still take voter registration cards, but ask for photo ID as well. At the time, they did take student ID cards. They don’t now. If someone pushed back on the ID request, we were instructed to go get the ‘election judge’, who would make a determination. If they approved, there were hoops to jump through, including having the voter sign an affidavit for proof of ID AND having to go to the county office. Where I lived at the time, it wasn’t such a big deal, as you could get there in less than 30 minutes from anywhere in the county. For a larger city, like LA, NYC, Chicago, Houston, etc, that would be a massive deal that could prevent someone from voting in time.
By 2010, we had electronic sign-ins that were linked to state databases. There was NO way for anyone to vote twice. Eligibility was still determined when you registered in the first place. As far as I know, it still is.
I had to renew my driver’s license two years ago and my passport last year. The amount of hoops I had to jump through for my driver’s license, despite never having married and never changing my name (so it still matches my birth certificate) was insane. The passport was even worse. The first time I got my passport (at 26), I just walked into the post office with my birth certificate and drivers license, waited in line for a bit, and got everything done. This time, it took me nearly 3 months. Even after gathering all the documents (4) needed, prefilling the forms, getting the photo from a specific place, etc, I had to make an appointment at one of only a few dozen centers in my area. I live in a big city now, one of the top 10 most populous ones in the US. And yet, every center only offered appointments one day a week, if that, and were booked MONTHS out. It was insane. I can see why so few people I know have one now.
So, yeah, I think voter ID laws are bullsh*t. I say that as someone who worked elections and knows the safeguards that were already in place.
I’ve moved a lot, too, and yes, it’s different in every state. Every Post Office has voter registration cards, as does the DMV. It’s just a form you fill out & mail in. Or fill it out online. I don’t recall showing ID for it.
I lived in Oregon for the longest time, even worked the polls there. No ID required, you simply find your name in the voter roles book & sign. Oregon switched to all-mail-in voting in 2000 & that was that. I moved to California & when I registered to vote I checked the perpetual absentee ballot (or whatever they called it), because of where I worked vs. where my polling place was & because I found I really liked voting by mail. Then I moved to Georgia, which didn’t have the perpetual absentee ballot option AND made you show ID–which by this time in my life I thought ridiculous. I never had to do that before. And that was my first experience with a computerized voting system as well. Then I moved to Hawaii and it was back to in-person paper ballots. Until I moved to a different island where there were no polling places & we had the perpetual absentee ballot option; applied for that online. Let’s see, then back to California, then to Washington–vote by mail option, so I did that, then back to Hawaii where you register to vote when you register your car and it’s all vote by mail (just dropped off my ballot yesterday).
So….yeah, different rules. I would suggest there’s been changes over time as well as differences by state. Because I’ve been voting since 1976 (gulp) and I do not recall ever, ever, having to show my ID, nor do I remember that being a requirement when I worked the polls in the 1990s. Voting in Georgia was the first time I did that (2012).
I think the whole showing ID now is the republicans gaining strength. Bastards.
Just wanted to say, I remember now. When I returned here to Hawaii my driver’s license & voters reg were both still good, all I had to do was go online and fill out a change of address for both. That worked out nicely.
When will the US find its way to becoming a democracy? When will the US stop disenfranchising people — especially minorities, or those who are socio-economically disadvantaged?
Many countries I know put you on voter rolls once you turn 18, no registration required. And most certainly no purging involved. EU citizens who are registered at the local municipality in their country of *residence* can also vote for mayors in local elections, no need for citizenship.
I understand some countries also have a requirement to vote, it’s the law. Others have voting day as a national holiday, so everybody has the opportunity to & no excuses about fitting it in around work.
I needed to renew my license this past year, I forgot and needed to get a new one. I had to jump through so many hoops and hurdles. It was absolutely ridiculous. I went to renew three times in person, turned away and told to return with my birth certificate in original form. Had words with the woman who felt the need to defend policy and current administration. The rest of the people who I came into contact with were very nice, empathetic and understanding, but it seemed like the point of all of this was to make the person in question do so much running around that they get tired and give up. Had to get a replacement, more hoops. I was in tears for days worrying I wouldn’t be able to vote…, completely beside myself, even though I knew eventually I would be able to get everything sorted out. The mere idea that I might be left out of the process was galling and super defeating. This is what they are after, stealing our votes and our voices.
It’s not just being able to vote now. I saw a SM post from a woman earlier this week and her new [red] state was refusing to issue her driver’s license without documentation of her first marriage and divorce from 18 years ago (which she doesn’t have as she remarried 12 years ago) in addition to records from her current marriage. All the while conservatives are are pitching hissy fits that women are opting not only not to have children but not to get married, and that many women who do get married aren’t changing their names (“refusing to take their husband’s last name”).
That’s appalling!