A late-night U.S. Senate vote on a photo identification requirement for federal elections failed 52-46 early Saturday after Sens. Mike Lee and Jon Husted sought to advance the measure around 4 a.m. California Sen. Alex Padilla spoke against it on the floor, saying, “Vote NO on this measure.” A post sharing video of the proceedings drew online reactions, with many commenters debating whether Democrats or Republicans bore primary responsibility for the outcome.
The footage shows activity on the U.S. Senate floor during the early morning hours, including a senator at the podium reviewing papers and wide views of the chamber with members standing and moving about. California Sen. Alex Padilla speaking while gesturing. In the clip, Padilla can be heard saying, “Vote NO on this measure.” The video does not clearly show the full preceding debate or the exact moment of the vote tally.
According to the accompanying post, Sens. Mike Lee and Jon Husted sought to advance a photo identification requirement for federal elections around 4 a.m., with the measure failing on a 52-46 vote. The post attributes opposition remarks to Padilla and describes the outcome as Democrats blocking the effort. Official records confirm that the vote on cloture for the Photo ID bill fell short of the 60 votes needed.
Online Responses to the Late-Night Senate Voter ID Vote
Some commenters focused on Democratic opposition, with one writing, “The Democrats know they need fraud to win an election.”
Others directed criticism at Republicans, stating “Disagree, Democrats didn’t block it, REPUBLICANS DID!” and “@GOP blocked it. Not Dems. … @SenateGOP are a complete joke. Spineless cowards.”
Several called for primaries, including “All the Republicans who voted against it need to be primaried out asap” and “Republicans who voted against it need to be primaried asap. Dems didn’t block *expletive* .”
Some users also referenced specific senators or the 60-vote threshold, with one noting “All 52 @GOP @SenateGOP present voted yes to invoke cloture (60 needed), which they knew wouldn’t happen so easy to vote yes… the old Potomac two step” and another writing “Why blame Democrats? This is the fault of Thune, Murkowski, and McConnell … and the other establishment RINOs.”
The late-night vote has joined the wider online conversation around photo identification requirements for federal elections. Discussion continues over the roles of both parties and the Senate’s 60-vote threshold in the measure’s outcome.
