From what I understand, if the SAVE act was to become law, many women who took their husband’s last name after marriage would not be able to vote because their birth certificate name would not match their current driver’s license or state issued ID.
My confusion here is, when you change your name after marriage (for example, changing it through social security and then through state ID) isn’t that your new legal name? Of course it wouldn’t match your birth name, nor should it. for accurate record keeping.
What is considered a correct, legal avenue of name change that satisfies the SAVE act? I’ve heard a passport is OK but that would have your new name as well, right? To me, that doesn’t make any more sense than a state ID. Especially since the states control the voting process; not the federal government.
Just looking for straight forward answers please. I already have the bias covered by my own views.
Edit: I asked specifically about married women, but I presume this would affect ANYONE who changed their name, for whatever reason, after birth?
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When a person gets married and changes their name; they register that change with the social security administration. They will not get a new social security number; but the name associated with that number is changed.
There is also receipt of name change.
After the name is legally changed; passports can be updated; as can other forms of identification and services……marriage licenses exist as state validated documentation of process
You forget there is a whole other group of people; naturalized citizens who have zero birth certificate with the USA because the immigrated later in life
Under the SAVE Act, as I understand it, you would be required to show proof of citizenship to vote. A passport would count, along with a few other IDs.
However, if you did not have a passport, you would need to show other proofs of citizenship, including birth certificate. For people with a name change, you would need to show your birth certificate, your current ID, and the name change forms that show both your new name and your birth name.
They want to disenfranchise as many women as possible, but can’t repeal the 19th amendment. The SAVE act would accomplish this, because most people don’t have the time, energy or resources to fight having their names removed from voter registration rolls or their ballot being rejected.
To solve this you fill out some paperwork from the state you were born in (the state website will specify what they need) which allows you to file to formally change the name on your birth certificate. The legal name on your birth certificate and your legal name on everything else now match.
Source: changed my name for non-marriage reasons, updated birth certificate after it became legal.
A lot of people don’t go through the process of legally changing their name, they just start using the new one. As long as you’re not doing that to hide or avoid legal issues, that’s OK. But it can leave you with inconsistent paperwork.
In my case, I’m male and Hispanic (my family have been US citizens for over a century). My birth certificate gives my father’s last name as mine. But in most Spanish speaking cultures it’s common to use both parents’ last names. When I was 14 I started doing that, because of tradition, and because I was raised by my divorced mother and wanted to recognize her. I just started using it, I didn’t legally change it. So my state ID has the long version of my name, along with bank records and every other account of significance, but my birth certificate doesn’t match that.
If I had to prove citizenship under the SAVE act with those documents I’d be screwed. Fortunately I do have a passport with the longer version of my name. I tried once to get the passport reissued under the birth certificate name, because the inconsistency had become a hassle, but was refused. I would have to spend a couple of years (I don’t remember the specifics) living under that name and establishing a paper trail with it before they would accept the change.
>*From what I understand, if the SAVE act was to become law, many women who took their husband’s last name after marriage would not be able to vote because their birth certificate name would not match their current driver’s license or state issued ID.*
False. Changing your name upon marriage does not mean losing your identity. You update your information with the Social Security administration and the Department of Motor vehicles and they issue a license in your new name, or non-driver ID card, and you’re done. You have a valid ID. If your state issues Real ID you’d be able to use it to travel to Canada or Mexico, or presumably, to prove citizenship to vote.
No, someone who is changing her name upon marriage does not need to carry around her birth certificate and explain a big story for the rest of her life.
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