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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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.
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