Democrats celebrated Monday after 73,000 North Carolina voters without proper ID stayed on the rolls.
Republicans had sued to remove them, citing state law requiring identification.
Schumer promises to kill the SAVE Act in the Senate – and wait until you hear what he called it on CNN.
North Carolina Voter ID Settlement Keeps 73,000 Registered Without Proper Documentation
The Republican National Committee sued North Carolina election officials in 2024 over a quarter million voters who registered without providing required identification.
These voters didn't include the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, or even an attestation that they had neither.
Republicans wanted them removed from the rolls and their 2024 ballots thrown out.
Monday's settlement allows 73,000 of these voters to stay registered while they update their information "when they cast a ballot."
North Carolina law requires voters to show ID at the polls, but Democrats just fought successfully to keep tens of thousands registered who don't have that documentation ready.
DNC chair Ken Martin called the settlement "yet another blow to the Republicans' scheme to disenfranchise voters."
Schumer Calls Voter ID "Jim Crow 2.0" On CNN Sunday
Jake Tapper confronted Schumer on CNN about the SAVE America Act, which passed the House last week.
The bill requires proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote.
Tapper pointed out that 83% of Americans support requiring photo ID to vote, including a majority of Democrats.
Schumer's response: "What they are proposing in this so-called SAVE Act is like Jim Crow 2.0. They make it so hard to get any kind of voter ID that more than 20 million legitimate people, mainly poorer people and people of color, will not be able to vote under this law."
Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation across the South for nearly a century through violence and state-sanctioned discrimination.
No study. No source. No evidence for that 20 million number.
Here's what Schumer won't mention: 76% of Black Americans support voter ID, 77% of Asian Americans support it, and 82% of Hispanic Americans support it.
The communities he claims to protect overwhelmingly support the policy he's blocking.
SAVE Act Passed House With Only One Democrat Vote
The House passed the bill 218-213 last week.
Every Republican voted yes.
Only one Democrat joined them – Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a heavily Hispanic border district that's over 70% Hispanic.
His constituents live with the consequences of open borders and lax election security every day.
Schumer vowed Senate Democrats will "fight it tooth and nail" and block the bill completely.
"We will not let it pass in the Senate," he told Tapper.
Schumer Supported ID Requirements In 1996 For Welfare Fraud
Video surfaced this week of Schumer in 1996 – back when he was a House member – supporting ID requirements for welfare reform.
"Let's admit the truth. Everywhere people go, they're asked for a Social Security card. In fact, one way to prove you're a bona fide person who can have a job is to ask for a driver's license and a social security card," he said on the House floor.
He called it "an anti-fraud amendment" that would stop "illegal immigrants or others" from getting benefits "because of fraud."
That was 1996, when checking ID helped Democrats crack down on welfare fraud.
Thirty years later, Schumer calls the exact same concept "Jim Crow 2.0."
The difference? Voter ID might actually secure elections.
RNC Files Multiple Election Security Lawsuits In North Carolina
The North Carolina case is one of five active lawsuits the RNC has filed against the state's election board.
In another case, Republicans sued after North Carolina passed a law requiring officials to check jury questionnaire responses for non-citizens and remove them from voter rolls.
That law went into effect July 1, 2024.
Election officials still haven't enforced it.
North Carolina voted for Trump by 183,000 votes in 2024.
But Democrats continue fighting basic election security – not because voters want them to, but because 83% public support means nothing when questionable ballots stay in play.
Schumer can call it "Jim Crow 2.0" all he wants.
His own voters disagree with him by 71% to 29%.
Sources:
- Anders Hagstrom, "Democrats celebrate as 73,000 North Carolina voters without proper ID stay on rolls," Fox News, February 17, 2026.
- "Schumer says Dems will fight voter ID push 'tooth and nail,' balks at DHS role in elections," Fox News, February 15, 2026.
- "Most Americans Back Expanded Early Voting, Voting by Mail, Voter ID," Pew Research Center, August 22, 2025.
- Kerry Picket, "Chuck Schumer hailed anti-fraud ID laws in the 1990s, but now calls it 'Jim Crow' at the polls," Washington Times, February 16, 2026.