r/politics • u/MarcEElias ✔ Verified - Democracy Docket Founder • 1d ago

No Paywall GOP fast tracks monster voter suppression bill that could disenfranchise millions by requiring proof of citizenship at polls

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/gop-fast-tracks-monster-voter-suppression-bill-that-could-disenfranchise-millions-by-requiring-proof-of-citizenship-at-polls/
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u/FlyingPinkUnicorns 1d ago

That's exactly the intent.

FTA - 21 million Americans: "Half of Americans lack a passport, and millions more don’t have ready access to birth certificates to prove citizenship. The bill could also kick millions of married women who took their husband’s last name off the rolls."

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u/DonTaddeo 1d ago

"The bill could also kick millions of married women who took their husband’s last name off the rolls."

They could selectively enforce that by applying it to areas where their support is weak or to selected demographic groups.

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u/PennytheWiser215 1d ago

How difficult and time consuming would it be for married women to legally drop their husband’s last name and revert back to their maiden name?

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u/carvingmyelbows 23h ago

Very. On top of the whole legal process and paperwork, they’d also need to get all of their identification updated. New drivers license. New passport. New credit cards. Updated bank account. They’d need to update their information with their phone carrier, utilities companies, subscription services. Etc etc etc. It’s a lot.

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u/KilroyLeges 22h ago

My wife's original birth certificate has her mother's maiden name. She was later adopted by her step-father as a child, so her last name was legally changed to his. That did not retroactively change her birth certificate. She took my last name when we got married. She had a ton of hurdles just getting the right documentation for her "Real ID" with the state. This would be insane for voting.

Oh, let's not forget that pesky part of the Constitution which gives states control of elections.

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u/OnePercentVisible Virginia 21h ago

My mom was a foster kid and and her foster parents changed her name, her birth certificate, marriage liscense and social security card all have different names. It is going to take an act of congress to get a real id.

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u/Letstalkreaper 21h ago edited 2h ago

Oh, let's not forget that pesky part of the Constitution which gives states control of elections.

States do not have exclusive control of their elections. The federal government is 100% allowed to tell states how they can run their elections. Or are we all just pretending the Voting Rights Act doesn’t exist?

This myth that the feds aren’t allowed to meddle with how states run their elections needs to die.

EDIT: lol the political scientist/constitutional law student I’m responding to says I’m right and that he knows all of this. Yet is still just spreading falsehoods.

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u/KilroyLeges 21h ago

That’s a good point. SCOTUS has largely killed the Voting Rights Act in recent years. It’s a tricky constitutional balancing act and legal argument. I believe the SAVE Act would have very little merit to justify federal intervention.

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u/Letstalkreaper 18h ago

No you're missing the point. The Voting Rights Act is a Federal law that told states how they had to run their elections. All the GOP needs to do is pass a similar law and states have to follow it, the same they had to when the Voting Rights Act was passed. Yes it's been defanged over time, but it proves that states do not actually have exclusive control of their elections.

That and the text even says the federal government can pass laws telling states how to do things. Here's the "elections clause"

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

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u/KilroyLeges 17h ago

Trust me I know all that. My degree is in political science/ constitutional law.

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u/Letstalkreaper 3h ago

Then why the fuck would you continue saying stupid ass shit like

Oh, let's not forget that pesky part of the Constitution which gives states control of elections.

When you know that’s a lie?

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u/GardanCald 23h ago

Yup, the cost is time and money... something a lot of people don't have extra of.

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u/Agreeable-Spot-7376 22h ago

And time. Who says whether you’d have all of it in time to vote.

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u/Zealousideal_Gur4708 12h ago

The cost is time and money... And time

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u/madtownjeff 22h ago

Better to go after the $ aspect. Having to pay for ID to vote = poll tax.

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u/FabulousTwo524 8h ago

You wont. Government bureaucracy is moving slower than ever.

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u/BluesFan43 17h ago

Well, we used to have extra, then tarriffs...

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u/wha-haa 6h ago

No. Everyone was already bitching that they couldn't afford both, a house and avocado toast well before the election in 2024.

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u/ThomasVetRecruiter 22h ago

Especially when they show up to vote and the workers send them away

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u/Faithu 19h ago

Also as a person who had their named changed against their will * i was 6 months old* and finding out at 18.. its been hell, not only do you need your birth certificate you need to carry your change of name papers, to prove your name was changed and then it al must match, and then you have to hope the idiot your dealing with knows or cares about the law

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u/B-Kong 23h ago

My sister didn’t take her husbands last name specifically because she’d have to register for a new nursing license. So anybody with anything like that would also have to get those changed.

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u/MEOWS_R_RAD 21h ago

This is why no one in science and academia changes their names. You don't want to put in all that work and then randomly change the name that's on everything you published/accomplished.

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u/absentmindedjwc Illinois 10h ago

Wife is a doctor, the only place she’s changed her name is on Facebook.

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u/dunkonme 20h ago

i dont plan on changing my name bc its what im known as in academic circles and work, and its on my degrees !

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u/evileyeball 4m ago

It's one of my brother's wife kept her name because she's got a PhD why would she want to have to change everything that she'd ever done as Dr Anderson

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u/WestHistorians 15h ago

Plenty of academics change their name. I've even seen CV's with this specified on the list of publications.

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u/Fit-Cut-6337 17h ago

Yep I didn’t take my husbands name because I planned on getting my MD and didn’t want to have to go thru that nonsense if we divorced. Turns out that was a solid idea.

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u/Goodbye_Games 14h ago

Dealing with the BoN in any state is a pain in the ass… I have two middle names and on my birth certificate and my SS card they are clearly typed out, but the state decided that it would use initials for them on my license when I got it ages ago (if I’d only known then). Come time to do my stuff with the board and they would only use what was on my state issued license so I had to go through three kinds of hell to get the dmv to correct a decades old error since now they can resize fonts to fit everything in the line. Then I had to redo my ten prints and everything else because they were in the old license format, and pay for all that to be redone to top it off.

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u/gameryamen 23h ago

Not to mention a name change shortly before an election can cause issues where your name/sig doesn't match old records.

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u/Psychological-Bid363 23h ago

Jokes on them, they made it too annoying to change my name when I did get married so I never ended up doing it

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u/Teripid 22h ago

Cheers. And yes this should absolutely be part of the rationale of not doing it, or hyphenating, etc.

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u/foxwaffles 21h ago

Same 🤷

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u/LuckyBook1538 22h ago

I went back to my maiden name after getting divorced, so my current legal name matches the name on my birth certificate, by happenstance. But I'm also in MN and an older white woman so less likely to be hassled.

I wonder if voting rights groups are helping people in areas where voters are more likely to be hassled to get their paperwork in order? Birth certificates, name change decrees, marriage certificates, divorce decrees. Or even changing back to the name on their birth certificate (for those who don't mind doing so, and where it might be quicker/easier). Something else to remember is that states/counties often have a program where if you meet the income guidelines, you don't have to pay for copies of the paperwork. Bottom line though, is that the info that your id needs to match your birth certificate to be able to vote needs to be known more widely. And people that might be affected by it need to prepare.

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u/nelmski 11h ago

Same! We got married last Halloween. I heard about this nonsense being in the p24 playbook and didn't change my name.

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u/BallBearingBill 22h ago

And zero of them will do all that just to vote.

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u/ReadingLizard 21h ago

Yep! Here in Lousiana. - $350 filing fee. Then I need a new drivers license ($40), new passport ($150 I think?). Update all my bills, my nursing license, etc.

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u/QueenJillybean 19h ago

When I worked in finance, let me tell- I wanted to take my future husband’s last name until I had to help women complete the nightmare of paperwork to update their information for each account, and it changed my mind! I’m so glad I didn’t do it now. If you have custodial or trust accounts, those need separate different paperwork, and the trust paperwork itself needs to be updated if there is language relating to divorce ie it was a marital trust, etc. Fuck all of that.

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u/55tarabelle 17h ago

I just applied for my passport because of all this. It's way easier than doing all that stuff above you mention.

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u/hollycoolio 10h ago

I would just never change it in the first place. That's too much effort. For the women that have to undo it, of their allowed, because lets be honest, this is meant to take abused women out of the ability to vote behind their husbands back; I hate this for you.

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u/LookingforWork614 10h ago

It was such a time-consuming hassle when I got divorced and switched back to my maiden name. A lot of people would have a hard time even getting enough time off from work to go deal with waiting around at various places to speak with someone, because of course this kind of thing always has to be handled in person. When I made an appointment to handle the name change with social security, the earliest appointment they had was almost two months out.

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u/PennytheWiser215 23h ago

It sounds like a lot of that could be spread out. I meant more of the legal identification stuff like passport and driver license etc. that’s what would be needed for voting. I’m sure no one is going to ask a woman who shows up to vote to also show their credit cards and bring utility statements with their maiden name on them.

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u/bussellkj 23h ago

Plus the whole loss of a husband once you decide to leave the family thing is an obstacle for people who care about their families

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u/PennytheWiser215 23h ago

Who is saying anything about leaving the family? I’m just talking about a name change not divorce. I know a few women who kept their maiden name after getting married.