In Case You Missed It: A marriage penalty in The SAVE Act, a top priority bill for MAGA Republicans, could prevent tens of millions of women from voting.
Restrictions in the SAVE Act would require eligible American citizens to use their passport or certified birth certificate to register to vote. A driver’s license would not be sufficient in most cases.
Married women who have changed their names wouldn’t be able to use their birth certificates. This could impact 69 million women nationwide.
“The marriage penalty in the SAVE Act could prevent women in every state – regardless of their political party – from voting. The bill is extreme and intrusive. Congress should soundly reject it,” said Defend The Vote Executive Director Brian Lemek.
USA Today: “SAVE Act would make voting harder for spouses who changed names.”
Newsweek: “Married women could be stopped from voting under the SAVE Act.”
Washington Post: “Many people do not have ready access to birth certificates or passports, including women who changed their names when they got married”
Glamour: “The SAVE Act Could Stop Millions of Women From Voting. Here’s What You Need to Know”
MSN: “‘They’re coming after women’s suffrage’: Republicans reintroduce SAVE Act to create voting barriers for married women”
Chron: “SAVE Act reintroduced: Potential challenges for married women voters”
Axios: “Women who changed their last name after marriage would face additional burdens in proving their citizenship, adding yet another bureaucratic hurdle that could suppress voter participation.”
Ms. Magazine: “As many as 69 million women who have changed their last name to match their spouse’s do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.”
Blavity: “The bill could also affect certain groups, including those who do not have passports (140 million) and married women (69 million) who do not have a birth certificate that matches their legal last name, according to the Center for American Progress.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Married women could face new obstacles to vote. This is what conservatives want.”
Fast Company: “This bill may also disproportionately block married women from voting: As many as 69 million married women don’t possess a birth certificate that matches their legal name, according to the Center for American Progress.”
