The SAVE Act passed the House on Feb. 11, 2026 by a vote of 218-213 and is now in the Senate awaiting a vote. Voting is expected to take place next week, according to Thune. If and when it passes the Senate, it will go to the president for a final signature.
Will SAVE Act Prevent Married Women from Registering to Vote?
Posted on February 28, 2025
Q: Is it true that under the SAVE Act married women will not be able to register to vote if their married name doesn’t match their birth certificate?
A: The proposed SAVE Act instructs states to establish a process for people whose legal name doesn’t match their birth certificate to provide additional documents. But voting rights advocates say that married women and others who have changed their names may face difficulty when registering because of the ambiguity in the bill over what documents may be accepted.
Cis women, trans people, and abuse victims. Their favourite targets.
It won’t stop married women from voting but it just creates a huge pain in the ass plus basically a poll tax. Since you’ll have to pay for copies of your birth certificate, plus getting your marriage license, and of course an ID.
Unconstitutional, but this admin wipes it’s ass with that document anyways.
It may stop them from voting depending on the requirements surrounding the birth certificate. The format of certain features or seals are not consistent across the US. Local laws in one place may require something which is not done in the place a person was born. My mother deals with that frequently and I had some issues with that previously. Even of she purchased a replacement birth certificate it would still follow the “wrong” format.
Yeah, I couldn’t even get photo ID because the state I was born in used a “certificate of birth” and the state I was living in required a “birth certificate”.
It took months to resolve the issue and I only got it fixed by doing a surprise 3 way phone call between offices in both states and had to listen to them argue about it for nearly 20mins. Even then I think I only got my ID because the person in my state was fed up and just wanted to go home for the day.
I would be similarly screwed if I lived where you did because I’m pretty sure mine is a “certificate of live birth” (separate from the unofficial document of the same name)
I could see this as a huge problem as well. Plus, you usually have to go in person to pick up those birth certificates. So you live in Florida but born in California. Now you’re making a 2k mile trip to vote. I’m sure there are Mail alternatives, but that’s just another barrier to add in.
I think it’ll disenfranchise more Republicans than Democrats.
First, while women are generally Democrats, the married demographic is more right wing. Especially the ones who changed their names
Second, Dems will be way more motivated that Republicans and will be more willing to jump over a hurdle to vote.
Second, Dems will be way more motivated that Republicans and will be more willing to jump over a hurdle to vote.
See I think that’s not the case - although I agree more R women would be affected they’re willing to take that hit to disenfranchise all the women who might vote Democratic that either aren’t able to, or can’t, or just don’t want to get a ride to the DMV and get a special permission slip to vote which they used to be able to do with just their name.
I think they’re banking on that taking a big bite out of D votes and I think they’re right. Rs will vote in a bloc every time, and so reliably they can essentially burn everything down and still get those votes. Ds are way less organized. Which is how most of us prefer it.
How funny that they constantly provide more incentive to NOT get married
Does that mean Alabama women are safe?
(☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞
Fascism
and Patriarchy
Why on earth is a birth certificate used at all for identification?
It’s proof of citizenship. But also, here it’s a convenient and plausibly deniable way to disenfranchise people who vote differently than them.
Yeah I’m guessing even most MAGA voters don’t have a birth certificate handy, and certainly don’t have passports. This just disenfranchises MOST Americans.
The enforcement will be extremely selective. We’re talking about Republicans here. They’re not subtle about ignoring the constitution.
“Ignoring the constitution” is the bedrock of our political parties.
For example the “powers not enumerated in the constitution rest with the people” bits. There’s no limit to powers today, they do what they want.
To further your point, this is about registering to vote, not voting. People already registered grandfather in. Just like the literacy treats that white folks also wouldn’t pass, but it was only about the newly allowed black voters.
And also the source of the term “grandfathered in”.
The law was typically along the lines of “literacy test or your grandfather could vote”.
Don’t forget there are various reasons you might get disenrolled and have to register again.
Including excessive “cleaning” the registration list, for districts which have too many non-Republican voters
It’s a feature, not a bug.
Yeah, but that seems like a really dumb and not-all-encompassing proof of citizenship. That’s why I asked. The 2nd part of your reaction makes sense and very likely accurate, but probably not the official reason right? Like, what is their public excuse for using it as proof of citizenship?
It is though, because the US has birthright citizenship.
What do you use?
A passport or national ID
Less than half of Americans have a passport, and that’s the only form of national ID we have. We have 50 different state IDs, but iirc only 3 of them show proof of citizenship.
Americans doesn’t necessarily have those.
Like if you don’t leave the US (like a lot of Americans don’t) you don’t have a incentive to keep your passport up to date.
Everyone in Europe has Passports, because you need it so much more.
Everyone in America have a birth certificate
Everyone in America have a birth certificate
Probably not if you’re an immigrant right? Legal or not.
I’m trying to say that a birth certificate doesn’t make much sense as a form of proof of citizenship, since it doesn’t accurately reflect immigrants and, apparently, marital status
You don’t become a legal immigrant in the us without presenting your birth certificate I think
Here is a list of allowed document for a similar problem, for employment. Note that it categorizes the possibilities as ID, citizenship, and work authorization, and you may need one each from multiple groups. For example you might use a drivers license as ID and a certified birth certificate as proof of citizenship
It’s not quite the same since this allows identifying as from another country and with a valid work authorization, which do not apply to voting, but very similar
Obviously I’m not saying this is appropriate to mandate for voting but if we were, this is a well thought out answer to that sort of question.
It doesn’t address the voter suppression concern though
No reason to use the I9 instead of the actual bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22/text
That’s the version that passed the house. And the relevant bit is near the top, section 2(b).
Is no one going to point out that it establishes requirements for birth certificates? If a state doesn’t already comply with all of those, are we going to have to be reborn?
You’ll have to get a passport or move to one of the 5 states with an enhanced driver’s license that meets the requirements under section 2(b)(1).
Long form or short form? Lol
Seems to me that if your birth name and married name match, this will disproportionately favor people who marry their siblings or other relatives. I wonder what political leaning that particular segment has 🤔
while i get the joke, i just want to make sure it’s clear to anyone coming across this understnds that women who elect to change their name in the merital tradition of erasure are more likely to be conservative, and the women who have the documents to prove their identity (like a passport) are more likely to be progressive.
all that said, the focus on how this will impact women, specifically, is frustrating because it’s ignoring the biggest groups of people who will be impacted: immigrants and working poor people. we shouldn’t tolerate the disenfranchisement of ~30% of women, so we are clear, but we are positioned to disenfranchise ~80% of immigrants and working poor and no one is talking about it. these are people who are less likely to have ANY of the acceptable documents proposed in the SAVE act.
for context, people experiencing poverty are far less likely to be born in a hospital and have a birth certificate, usually depending on a baptism certificate to establish their government name. meanwhile, immigrants may have a passport, but if it’s expired that’s unacceptable, and a lot of the nations around the world that issued the birth certificates being required by this law in place of a passport can no longer certify birth certificates simply because they aren’t existing anymore. i have multiple friends who can’t get their birth certificates right now because that would put them at risk of government retribution because they are asylum seekers. for example, my siberian neighbor isn’t going to be getting in touch with the Russian government any time soon.
so in conclusion. the aim is to disenfranchise women and minorities. the majority of the women disenfranchised will be conservative. however, the majority of people disenfranchised will be progressive.
and that’s no accident.
people experiencing poverty are far less likely to be born in a hospital and have a birth certificate
For example my teen just needed his birth certificate for a new job and we somehow misplaced it. Getting an expedited replacement took almost two weeks and cost $80.
Even allowing for hospital birth and existing records, misplacing documents is all too easy and could easily become an obstacle to voting. If I’m struggling to make ends meet, no way in hell am I willing to pay $80 to vote and I wouldn’t have thought of it two weeks ahead of time
yup. didn’t even want to get into duplicate records. but yeah, that’s another way this quietly targets working poor people. it disgusts me that 85% of this country supports racist voter ID laws, and that the republicans are using that to fabricate a mandate for even more draconian measures
Or it will disqualify a lot of married women who took their partner’s name
Unmarried women and women who keep their last name will have less trouble voting… and people whose names differ and are aware of the change, are more likely to go through the bullshit to make sure they’re registered. Maybe it’ll prevent a bunch of Magats from being able to vote
It’s utterly disgusting either way. Hope it backfires, they lose, and they’re persecuted. A kid can dream
The logic in my joke is severely flawed, and intentionally so, for comedic effect. Contrary to popular belief, it’s actually quite difficult to marry a close blood relative, even south of the Mason-Dixon line, which is why most conservatives prefer cohabitation.
Oh happy day when MAGA Karens learn this when they try to vote.
No ma’am, hyphenating your name isn’t what’s on your birth certificate.
Easy solution, just don’t marry anyone with a different last name.
That’s how MAGA does marriage, usually
Might go a long way in explaining those long jaws they frequently have
[Sweet Home Alabama intensifies]
Roll tide
Hmmm
Found the Kentuckian
I get the joke, but is it really so rare in the US for a woman to keep her own surname after marriage?
That was the point elsewhere here that it would hurt republicans more.
- republicans tend to be conservative, older, so are more likely for the woman to have changed her name
- democrats tend to be more liberal or more progressive or more educated, all of which are more likely for the woman to keep her name when getting married.
It’s actually pretty common for one person to take on the other’s last name.
My partner started out keeping hers, then took my last name after getting hassled over her name not matching our son’s in various situations.
This would make voting difficult for her.
20-30% of women keep their maiden name after marriage.
Liberal women are roughly twice as likely as conservative women to keep their maiden name.
So yeah, conservative women screwing themselves and also handing a minor edge to liberal women.
Yes but who is going to be enforcing this? Where specifically are they going to be enforcing this?
Because it ain’t gonna be Bumfuck, Alabama who has gone red since the Civil War.
That’s true. Odds are if implemented they’ll harass people in Minneapolis before they do Ft. Smith, AR.
You will have to show Real ID before you vote.
The vast majority of Real ID(s) do not qualify under the new act. They do not state citizenship.
Every day that passes, I hate these people more and more.
Won’t matter when he cancels elections cause we are in multiple wars.
They’ll go after each demographic whose voting habits favour democrats: Immigrants, women, educated, non-christian, poor, lbgtq+, young, non-white. Whichever ones you belong to, makes you a potential target of voter disenfranchisement. At he same time making it easier for: old, male, white, Christian, wealthy, uneducated, straight, multi-generational American.
Wait til you hear why they created a “war” on “drugs”!
If convicted felons can be president, they should be allowed to vote too.
Death by a thousand cuts. Each issue by itself might evoke a shrug, but put it all together, a very clear picture emerges.
BTW (and I’m sure you know) this has been going on for waaaay longer than MAGA. Arguably since the USA’s independence. Every conservative president seems to have added a little bit. The system is near completely eroded.
Depends on the immigrants, sadly.
As a non white lol why can’t I vote? I’m a legal citizen I will have no issue. I would like to know what rights the whites have over me?
Rights? Have you been paying attention?
They’re blatantly and regularly violating the first, second, fourth, and fifth amendments whenever they feel like it.
They’re absolutely going to have ICE around harassing anyone they think might vote blue, particularly people of color.
You aren’t wealthy enough to have rights.
It’s feels weird Dems assuming I have less rights than them based on my ethnicity. What’s worse is I feel like Dems are trying to come from a good place with a good heart. But it’s starting to scare me that a group of people are ok with Latinos becoming second class citizens. As an illegal immigrant you can’t join a union or big company to get a good job. It’s causing illegal immigrants to have no choice but to take this jobs to survive.
What rights do people wealthier than me have?
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, to start with.
Grow up.
Lol so your answer is a catch phrase. Cause I notice the harm of using my people as a political football. This is why the part system is fucking stupid. Your fans just trying to help your team not the actual people
It’s NOT a “catch phrase,” it’s literally the opening of the Declaration of Independence, in which it is declared that our nation is founded on the concept that we have been endowed by GOD to have the INALIENABLE rights to Life, Liberty, and the a pursuit of Happiness.
Its not a catch phrase, it’s literally the foundation of American Democracy.
You have proven your ignorance for all to see. Stop talking now.
You don’t know if you won’t have issues or not. Their whole goal is to create issues.
Live in a black area of a county in GA? Close down the polling station.
Look Hispanic near a polling station? Maybe ICE tackles you and arrests you for no reason.
Woman and your name doesn’t match? No vote.
It’s really not hard to understand what they’re trying to do. Whites don’t have more rights than you on paper. They would love to change that, and they start by bending and then breaking the law.
Never had an issue voting lol
This is what is referred to as anecdotal evidence. Go read up on voter suppression and gerrymandering.
why would a married name match a birth certificate name? or are they saying they only marry relatives? do women change birth certs when married? I am not a woman.
but funny story i adoped my stepson after his mom died. he was 14 or so. he was issued a new birth certificate and the “mother” area is … blank.
When you’re married, you give up your voting privileges. Your husband will vote for you. Oh, he only gets one vote of course.
Also, if you’re not married, you’ve clearly shown that you’re not mature enough to vote. A public servant will be designated to vote on your behalf.
