Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., the sole Republican representing New York City in Congress, is calling out what she describes as hypocrisy from Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Chuck Schumer over voter identification legislation.

Malliotakis spoke with Fox News Digital about her push for the Senate to pass President Donald Trump's Safeguard America's Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require voters to prove American citizenship before casting a ballot. The House has passed versions of the bill four times, she noted.

What the Left Is Saying

Democratic lawmakers and voting rights advocates have generally opposed strict voter ID requirements, arguing they create unnecessary barriers to voting for eligible citizens, particularly minority communities, elderly voters, and low-income Americans who may lack easy access to government-issued photo identification. Critics of the SAVE Act contend that existing election security measures are adequate and that the legislation is designed to suppress turnout rather than prevent actual fraud, which studies show is exceedingly rare in American elections.

Proponents of voting rights expansion note that multiple federal courts have found that in-person voter impersonation fraud—the type of fraud that voter ID laws are designed to address—is virtually non-existent. They argue that resources would be better directed toward increasing access to the ballot through early voting, mail-in options, and automatic voter registration.

What the Right Is Saying

"I think the Democrats are showing the two sides that they have," Malliotakis told Fox News Digital. "They go to their district, they tell their constituents that they support voter ID, and then they turn around to go to Washington and vote against it."

Malliotakis pointed specifically to Schumer's leadership in blocking the legislation. "We've passed it out of the House now four times and it's up to the Senate to get the job done," she said. "These Senators keep going to their district saying that they support the SAVE America Act, or at least they're telling their constituents that they support voter ID, and then they go to Washington and they vote against it."

She argued that voter ID requirements have broad public support across party lines. "Over 80% of America wants it," Malliotakis continued. "The only people that don't seem to want it are the Democrats who are in Congress right now and they're not representing the people of their districts who are overwhelmingly saying they want it."

What the Numbers Show

According to Gallup polling, support for voter ID laws has remained consistently high across party lines for more than a decade. A 2023 survey found that 81% of Americans believe voters should be required to show photo identification before casting a ballot.

The SAVE Act passed the House in a party-line vote earlier this year, with no Democrats supporting the measure. In New York specifically, Malliotakis noted that Staten Island—the borough she represents—was the only one of New York City's five boroughs that did not vote for Mamdani in his mayoral election.

Federal data on election fraud cases remains limited. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law has found that rates of impersonation fraud in U.S. elections are between 0.0003% and 0.002%, while the Heritage Foundation's database of confirmed fraud cases, spanning multiple decades, documents roughly 1,400 cases out of hundreds of millions of votes cast.

The Bottom Line

Fox News Digital contacted the offices of both Mamdani and Schumer for comment but did not receive responses before publication.

The voter ID debate represents a continuation of longstanding partisan divisions over election administration. Republicans argue that basic identification requirements are common-sense measures that build public confidence in electoral outcomes, while Democrats contend such requirements disproportionately affect historically marginalized communities.

Malliotakis also highlighted what she called inconsistencies in the mayor's positions, pointing to Mamdani's support for photo ID requirements in city programs like government-run supermarkets and snow shoveling services. "This is the hypocrisy we're seeing where things like that for everyday activities, they want ID, but when it comes to voting... they don't want any type of accountability or transparency," she said.

The SAVE Act faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Democrats hold a minority position but have used procedural tools to block previous Republican election security measures. What happens next will likely depend on whether Senate Republicans can muster the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation past a potential filibuster.