Virginia Foxx compares voting to unlimited pasta at Olive Garden. Really?
As Virginia Foxx and her fellow Republicans continue to push for Congress to pass some form of the SAVE America Act, they’ve coalesced around an absurd talking point intertwining elections and … Olive Garden.
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Olive Garden recently reintroduced its Never Ending Pasta Pass, which allowed 10,000 lucky customers to purchase a $100 pass for 13 weeks of unlimited pasta. Since the pass cannot be shared or transferred, diners must present a valid photo ID matching the name on the pass when ordering.
Therefore, Republicans argue, it makes sense to require a photo ID to vote.
“Heck, you even need to present a photo ID to utilize the Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Pass,” Foxx said Monday during a committee hearing on Capitol Hill.
The argument has been echoed by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, as well as White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, who claimed “Olive Garden takes pasta pass security more serious than Democrats are taking election security.”
It shouldn’t need to be said, but here it is: democracy is not an Olive Garden, and voting is not pasta. Unlike unlimited pasta, voting is a constitutional right. Unlike Olive Garden, the government is not a private business. Frankly, attempted pasta passholder fraud may even be more common than voter fraud, a federal crime that is virtually nonexistent. Also, trying to use your friend’s pasta pass to score a couple free bowls of alfredo isn’t going to land you in prison. (And, to be clear, you can still eat a normal meal at Olive Garden without being carded.)
Perhaps if the SAVE America Act was a clean voter ID bill, it would receive more support. While voter ID is largely unnecessary and can be burdensome, a majority of Americans do support it. But calling the SAVE America Act a voter ID bill is like calling Olive Garden fine dining. It gives people a false sense of what they’re actually getting.
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In reality, the SAVE America Act is something much more draconian. It would require voters to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship (in person!) when registering to vote. That’s something that 12% of registered voters do not readily have and would have to shell out significant time and money to obtain. Even the voter ID aspect is unnecessarily restrictive, as the list of approved ID options is narrower than what most state laws currently allow. The version that the president is pushing would also drastically limit mail-in voting. The legislation would be costly and time-consuming for states to implement, and it provides no funding to help them do so.
Let’s pretend for a second that comparing elections to Olive Garden actually makes sense. You do not need to show proof of citizenship to purchase a Never Ending Pasta Pass at Olive Garden. You don’t have to show your birth certificate to the waiter if your maiden name and married name don’t match. Something like a driver’s license or REAL ID or even a student ID would be perfectly sufficient, but neither of those things would be enough to register to vote under the SAVE America Act.
Do Republicans think that a promotional deal at Olive Garden is comparable to the right to vote? Either they like Olive Garden way too much, or they don’t take the right to vote seriously enough. Neither of those things are particularly defensible, but voting is sacred and protected by the Constitution. Olive Garden is not.
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten covers politics and the 2026 elections for The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer.
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This story was originally published July 22, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
