The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) is now headed to approval in the Senate, and it threatens the voting rights of married women who have changed their last names. This means that women could potentially need to provide their marriage certificates, which is often expensive and/or time consuming, to demonstrate their name change that supports both their new and old identity documents. Legal experts have also expressed concern that the bill could lead to unequal policies throughout states, meaning that some states may adopt stricter voting requirements than others. While there is uncertainty about what effect this bill will have if adopted, legal experts worry that this may be detrimental to the outcome of very tight elections, which has been the case for the last few.
Compiled from: Juliana Kim, "Will the SAVE Act make it harder for married women to vote?," NPR, April 13, 2025.