Top Virginia Dem dinged for on-air correction of state's voter ID law; opponent demands answers

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner's Republican challengers are seizing on the Virginia Democrat's on-air exchange over his opposition to the SAVE Act after a TV anchor corrected him on his own state's election laws.

Warner argued the SAVE Act — part of conservatives' election security push — could disenfranchise married women and others, while pointing to Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's opposition as evidence of bipartisan concern.

"It's astonishing that a man who has spent nearly two decades representing Virginia in the United States Senate doesn't even know Virginia's own voter ID laws," Marine Reserves Lt. Col. David Williams exclusively told Fox News Digital Tuesday.

"If Senator Mark Warner can't get a basic fact about our elections right on national television, how can Virginians trust him to protect the integrity of those elections?"

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Williams, an Iraq War veteran and former diplomat, said the SAVE Act is the "common-sense" move to secure America's elections without disenfranchising "legal vote[s]."

"If Senator Warner believes only American citizens should vote in American elections, he should join me in demanding an immediate vote on the SAVE America Act. If he won’t, Virginians deserve to know why."

On Sunday, ABC News anchor Jon Karl told Warner 80% of Americans, including 71% of Democrats, support nationwide voter ID. Warner replied that, "in Virginia, we have voter ID and photo ID – I have to show my …," trailing off as Karl cut in.

"That's actually not the case. I’m a Virginia voter," Karl said. "You don't need to show voter ID in Virginia. There are a wide range of things you can show for it."

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Karl added that voters can still provisionally vote if they sign an affidavit.

Warner replied there are a variety of ways Virginians can legally vote, adding he found irony in some states purportedly accepting "NRA gun licenses" while rejecting student IDs.

The Virginia Department of Elections' list of acceptable forms of identification includes some that do not require photographs, such as a water bill.

Under Virginia law, election officers must ask in-person voters for identification, but acceptable forms include voter confirmation documents, utility bills, bank statements, government checks and paychecks, which do not need to include a photograph. A voter without acceptable identification can sign an ID Confirmation Statement under felony penalties and cast a regular ballot. Voters who provide neither must cast a provisional ballot.

"[C]ertain states will say we're going to let you show your NRA gun license, but you can't show your student ID. If you're going have a set of IDs, let's have it across the board as long as it comes from some official point," Warner said.

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Retired Maj. Gen. Bert Mizusawa, who is also seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Warner, echoed Williams' criticism.

"The biggest takeaway is that Mark Warner opposes the SAVE America Act, which is required to secure America’s defining democratic process: honest elections that reflect the will of legitimate voters," Mizusawa said in a statement.

"The question is why? He either knows that our current flawed elections are rife with fraud and likes it that way or chooses to stay ignorant, both to the detriment of the American people."

Fox News Digital reached out to Warner’s campaign for comment.

Mizusawa said that, if elected, he also would join fellow Republicans in supporting the SAVE Act and "finally secure our federal elections."

Tech executive Kim Farington, the other candidate in the race, replied to coverage of Warner’s interview on X.

"You either still don’t know Virginia’s voter ID requirements after serving three terms, or you’re not telling Virginians the truth," Farington said.

The SAVE Act would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, a proposal Republicans say is needed to secure elections and Democrats argue could create new barriers for eligible voters.

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this report.