Today, Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) voted against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, harmful legislation that would create new barriers to voter registration and disproportionately impact women who have legally changed their names. The bill would change voter registration guidelines to require proof of U.S. citizenship. However, the only documents approved for voter registration would be birth certificates or passports. Click here for a North Carolina fact sheet.

The SAVE Act would disenfranchise more than two million women in North Carolina and nearly 69 million women across the country, who have changed their names due to marriage or divorce. Under this legislation, many would be forced to obtain costly and difficult-to-access documents, like passports, or risk losing their right to vote.

“The SAVE Act is a blatant attempt by Republicans to rollback voting rights in North Carolina and across the country — especially women, service members, Americans in rural communities, and voters of color,” said Congresswoman Ross. “This bill is not about election security at all. It’s about voter suppression.”

Introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21), the SAVE Act would require voters to present specific forms of proof of citizenship—such as a passport or a birth certificate that matches their current legal name—in order to register to vote. However, commonly used legal documents like marriage licenses or name change orders would not qualify.

Bill text is available here and a one pager is available here.