Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., faces a poll showing a majority of Americans support requiring photo ID to vote, which the liberal senator says would disenfranchise voters.
ABC’s Jonathan Karl first asked Schiff if Democrats and Republicans could reach a compromise on supporting photo ID at the polls, as Republicans push the SAVE Act. Some Democrats compared the SAVE Act to “apartheid 2.0.”
“Jonathan, the question you just asked is essentially this: Shouldn’t we use the distrust that Republicans created in the election by claiming there was no fraud to enact a voter suppression law, the RESPONSE Act, which requires people to have a birth certificate or a passport – millions of Americans don’t have those documents. Almost half the country doesn’t have a passport, and I don’t know where millions of people can find birth certificates,” Schiff responded.
Senator Adam Schiff on “The Late Show” on July 17, 2025. ABC host Jonathan Carr on “Good Morning America” on April 3, 2023.
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Carr said he was asking Schiff a different question, specifically about whether he supports photo ID.
“But let me ask you a different question: photo ID. Because, as you know, let’s show you a recent poll, there are a lot of polls about this, but in the most recent Pew poll, 83 percent of adults support requiring photo ID to vote. 71 percent of Democrats support requiring photo ID,” Carr said. “Is this something you can support? If not, why?”
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Schiff argued that it would still “disenfranchise” people.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025.
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“This would still disenfranchise people who don’t have the correct REAL ID, driver’s license ID, don’t have the ID to vote, even if they are citizens. It’s another way to try to suppress the vote,” Schiff said.
An August 2025 Pew Research Center poll found that 95% of Republicans supported showing ID to vote.
Schiff added, “I think the last thing we want to do is prevent more citizens from voting while they’re attacking the same elections at the same time they’re trying to do away with absentee ballot voting and at the same time they’re trying to do away with registering to vote through the DMV or by mail. So, this is part of a broader disenfranchisement effort, and no, I don’t think that’s the right direction.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the SAVE Act represents “Jim Crow 2.0.”
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“For example, if you change – you’re a woman who gets married and changes your last name, you won’t be able to show identification and you will be discriminated against. If you can’t find a birth certificate or proper identification, you will be discriminated against. It’s vicious and nasty. I say to our Republican colleagues, it’s not going to pass the Senate. You’re not going to get a Democratic vote in the Senate. We’re not going to revive segregation across the country. And when the American people hear what exactly it’s doing and what its intent is, they’re going to oppose it,” Schumer said Thursday on MS NOW ’s “Morning Joe” show.
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Original source of the article: Adam Schiff faces polls showing overwhelming support for requiring photo ID to vote