- United States
- Tenn.
- Letter
The SAVE Act poses a significant threat to the voting rights of millions of eligible American citizens, particularly married women who have changed their names after marriage. By requiring documentary proof of citizenship that matches an individual's current legal name, this legislation creates unnecessary barriers for those whose identification documents do not align with their birth certificates due to a name change. This disproportionately impacts married women, as an estimated 69 million have taken their spouse's surname. Requiring them to present additional documentation proving their name change places an undue burden on their ability to exercise their fundamental right to vote. Furthermore, the act fails to account for the difficulties many citizens face in obtaining documents like birth certificates or naturalization records, which can be costly and time-consuming to replace. Protecting the integrity of elections is undoubtedly crucial, but existing measures like providing Social Security numbers, matching voter rolls against federal databases, and presenting voter ID at polling places already serve this purpose. The SAVE Act is an excessive and discriminatory measure that risks disenfranchising large portions of the population, undermining the core principles of our democracy. We must safeguard every American's sacred right to vote, free from unreasonable obstructions. Urge your representatives to reject the SAVE Act and uphold the voting rights of all eligible citizens, regardless of their marital status or name. Our democracy depends on the full participation of its people.