A claim circulating on social media suggests that married people who changed their last name will face difficulties when trying to vote under the proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.
Experts say the bill, which was recently reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, would not explicitly prevent these voters from casting a ballot, but it could create barriers to registration by requiring them to show additional documentation.
If passed, the act would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which requires states to offer voter registration when obtaining a driver’s license, to mandate documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration.
This means that common forms of ID used for voter registration, including driver’s licenses, would no longer be accepted as they are not generally considered proof of citizenship. Instead, voters would have to present documents such as a U.S. passport, a birth certificate, or naturalization paperwork to register.
The Center for American Progress analysis estimated as many as 69 million have taken their spouse’s name but do not have a matching birth certificate. “The fate of those 69 million women are basically up in the air, the way the bill is written,” said Greta Bedekovics, associate director of democracy policy at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning policy and advocacy group.
Opponents argue that the law could also make voting more difficult for military and rural voters by upending both mail-in and online voter registration. Bedekovic said it would make an in-person trip to the election office the only “viable way for Americans across the country to register to vote,” adding that rural voters are less likely to have a passport and may have to travel hours to obtain and submit documents.
According to Congress.gov, the bill also “establishes criminal penalties” for registering someone who does not have the right documents to vote.
Eliza Sweren-Becker, senior counsel in the Brennan Center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program, noted that the bill “does not specify what extra documents” married individuals would need to produce, adding that “election officials, who would face legal risks under the bill, would be hesitant to register women whose documentation name does not match their current name.”
“This in-person ‘show your papers’ requirement would keep many eligible voters out of the voting booth — beyond the millions who already lack ready access to their citizenship documents — and cause chaos for election administration,” said Becker.
As of January 2025, eight states require proof of citizenship to register to vote, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Americans widely support both voter ID requirements and proof of citizenship. A 2024 Gallup survey found more than 4 in 5 respondents supported proof of citizenship requirements for first-time voters.
Supporters of the bill, including U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican from Pennsylvania, argue that it is necessary to prevent noncitizens from voting.
However, noncitizen voting is already illegal and rare. In a study following the 2016 election, the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found just 30 suspected cases of noncitizen voting out of 23.5 million votes cast in the 42 jurisdictions reviewed.
The SAVE Act has not yet passed and remains under debate in Congress.
A 2023 Pew Research survey found that about 80% of women married to men in the U.S. take their husband’s last last name. Under the SAVE Act, if their voter registration name differs from the name on their birth certificate or passport, they may need to show additional documents.
If the SAVE Act were to become law, Bedekovics said married women who have changed their names should obtain certified copies of all marriage certificates, locate their birth certificates, and keep any change-of-name documentation on hand for any updates to their voter registration.
