Early Vote Action founder Scott Presler delivered a pointed rebuke of Senate Republicans in an interview on – News Saturday, accusing the party’s majority of moving too slowly on election integrity measures and urging conservatives to turn up the pressure through primaries, town halls, voter registration drives, and grassroots activism.
Speaking with – News Saturday host Bradley Jaye, Presler said it is “very disingenuous” for most Republican senators — aside from Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, “and a few others” — to suggest they are seriously fighting to safeguard elections. He pointed to what he described as illegal aliens on Pennsylvania voter rolls who were “actively registered” and casting ballots, adding that similar issues are being identified in Michigan and Arizona. “This is an existential crisis. This is a constitutional crisis,” Presler said.
Presler argued that Republican organizers are being put in a difficult position when they ask voters to support the GOP while the party, as he put it, holds power across “all three branches of government” yet has not fulfilled key campaign commitments. “How do I make the case as a conservative activist trying to drum up support for Republicans when, as the majority controlling all three branches of government, we are incapable of delivering the very campaign promises that elected the majority we have today?” he asked. “How do I make the case to elect Republicans when our Senate majority leadership won’t deliver what 84% of Americans want?”
Still, Presler made clear that his frustration with Senate leadership will not slow his organizing efforts. “I promise, I’m not going to stop. I’m going to continue,” he said, noting that Early Vote Action remains active in Pennsylvania. According to Presler, Republicans are “25,811 active voters from flipping the state,” and he argued that “just because the Senate is derelict in its duties doesn’t mean that activists like myself are going to give up the responsibility.”
Pressed on the SAVE America Act, Presler said the proposal centers on “only” two requirements: proof of citizenship and photo voter identification. He said voters who are already registered would not be forced to register again, but would instead be checked through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, commonly known as SAVE.
Presler noted that the SAVE database is already used in connection with HUD and government housing programs, questioning why it should not also be applied to voter registration. “Why are we not using the same database to ensure that only eligible, lawful American citizens are registered to vote, or for SNAP, or for other ‘quote unquote’ entitlements?” he said. In his view, the system would help “clean the voter rolls” and “ensure that only Americans are voting in our elections.”
Presler also suggested that many Republican senators are out of step with voters because they are insulated by Washington politics. “There is such a bubble in D.C. that these senators truly need to go out, touch grass, and talk to the voter,” he said. If lawmakers return home without taking action, he predicted, they will “get a peaceful earful from the American people.”
He warned that long-serving incumbents can grow too comfortable in office. “They feel invulnerable. They really do. They feel untouchable,” Presler said, citing past primary defeats of sitting lawmakers as proof that voters can still remove officeholders. “We need to do a better job of being active, engaged voters in our primaries,” he added.
Pressler called on dissatisfied Republican donors to use their financial support as leverage, saying lawmakers “care about money and they care about power.” He encouraged listeners to seek WinRed refunds from senators they had donated to, while citing Rick Scott and Mike Lee as exceptions.
Looking ahead to 2028, Pressler singled out Sens. John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (R-WY), Tim Scott (R-SC), and James Lankford (R-OK) as senators he said activists should be prepared to challenge. “They need to know if you do not deliver what 84% of Americans want, we are coming for your seats peacefully,” Pressler said, adding that activists should be prepared to “take you out” electorally as he said voters had done in Louisiana and Texas.
Pressler said one of the most important actions voters can take is to approach their senators directly at town halls and other public events. “How many of you guys show up to town halls?” he asked. “When they’re at fairs and festivals, I want you to peacefully approach them. I want you to go up to them. Why haven’t you delivered for us?”
He rejected the argument that Democrats make election-integrity legislation impossible to pass, listing several procedural approaches he believes Republicans could pursue. “We can nuke the filibuster. We can do a talking filibuster. We can do budget reconciliation 3.0,” Pressler said. “I just gave you three viable pathways to give us proof of citizenship and photo voter ID. It’s not good enough to blame the Democrats.”
Pressler also argued that Republicans might already have a 60-vote Senate majority had election-integrity legislation been enacted years earlier. He pointed to Mike Rogers’ narrow 2024 loss, what he described as a narrow 2024 loss involving Tammy Baldwin’s Wisconsin seat, as well as losses in Arizona and Nevada, where he said Laxalt lost by 8,000 votes in 2022. “It is disingenuous for any Republican senator to say that we don’t have the votes when we could have the votes had we simply passed election integrity,” he said.
Pressler cited figures concerning noncitizen voter registrations as evidence for his concerns, asserting that “6,600 non-citizens” were registered in New Jersey and that 400 voted, before invoking the 2000 presidential election. “Please look me up. Fact check me. Bush v. Gore was decided by 537 votes,” he said. Pressler further claimed there are “250,000 non-citizens on the voter rolls in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada.”
“This is a constitutional crisis,” Pressler said. “This is the single most important issue the American people care about.” He urged listeners to “get angry peacefully,” attend events, make their voices heard, and tell senators that “you either deliver or we are going to get rid of you.”
Asked what citizens could do beyond attending town halls, Pressler emphasized participation in Republican primaries. “I would ask the listener how many of you are registered to vote as a Republican for your primary,” he said, acknowledging that some conservatives may be “disenchanted” with the party but arguing that primary participation is necessary to influence which candidates reach the general election.
“Unless you are voting in primaries, you are allowing for the destruction of our country by not ensuring that we have the most conservative candidate, Senate choice, or member of Congress choice going into the November election,” Pressler said. He also called for more voter-registration work, asserting that “30% of our beautiful Christians are not registered to vote” and that “42% of hunters in Pennsylvania” are not registered.
Pressler argued that conservatives need to become more aggressive in organizing, while distinguishing that approach from adopting the political left’s ideology or policies. “We must become more like the left in terms of advocacy because they are running circles around us,” he said. Pressler added that he believes there is particular urgency to act while Republicans hold the majority, arguing that “our Senate is not giving the urgency that is required while we have the majority.”
Pressler also detailed Early Vote Action’s efforts in Pennsylvania and encouraged – News Saturday listeners nationwide to participate. “I actually don’t even receive a dime from my organization,” he said, adding that he is “very proud” of that.
Pressler promoted the Early Vote Action app for Android and iPhone, which he said allows supporters regardless of where they live to text inactive Republican voters in Pennsylvania and encourage them to update their registrations. “If you want to help me flip the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from blue to red, no matter what state you live in, you can help text inactive voters,” he said.
He asked supporters to send 20 messages per day through the app. “Give me one minute of your time pressing the text button 20 times over once a day using the Early Vote Action app,” Pressler said. “That’s something that you can contribute.”
Pressler said Early Vote Action also welcomes help from Pennsylvania and neighboring states, including Ohio and Maryland. “We’d love your help,” he said, adding that people from Ohio and Maryland have traveled to Pennsylvania to assist.
Pressler said he is “all in” on helping Republicans retain Scott Perry, Ryan McKenzie, and Rob Bresnahan, whom he identified as three members of Congress in Pennsylvania needed to help Republicans keep the House for President Donald Trump and, in his words, “ensure that in 2028 we have the ability to win.” “That is how you can make a national impact, even from Oregon, Washington, California,” Pressler said. “Download the Early Vote Action app. Send 20 text messages a day, please.”
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