1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Ensuring equitable voting rights for all Americans, especially women, is critically important for a healthy democracy. The proposed SAVE Act threatens to create unnecessary barriers for millions of eligible women voters who have changed their legal name after marriage. According to research cited in the Salon article, nearly 69 million voting-age women who have taken a spouse's last name could face obstacles proving their citizenship to register under this legislation. While the bill aims to address voter fraud concerns, documented cases of non-citizen voting are exceedingly rare. Rather than solving a problem, the SAVE Act risks disenfranchising lawful women voters by making it harder for them to provide the required proof of citizenship if their documents do not match their current legal name. This threatens to undermine faith in our electoral system and make voting needlessly difficult for a significant portion of the electorate. Access to the ballot box should be safeguarded and expanded for all eligible citizens, not restricted through burdensome requirements that create discriminatory effects. Alternative measures are needed that reconcile election integrity with protecting every American's fundamental right to vote, regardless of gender.