Do you have a certified copy of your birth certificate? Does the name on your birth certificate match the name on your Florida driver's license or ID? Do you have a passport? These are questions citizens will need to consider if they wish to register to vote or update their voter registration if the federal SAVE Act becomes law. This law has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is now before the Senate.

 

This federal bill was introduced under the false pretense that non-citizens vote en masse. To date, no legitimate study has shown this to be true.

 

The SAVE Act seems helpful, but as a U.S. citizen residing in Florida, whether born here or naturalized, you already indicate on the Florida Voter Registration Application that you are a U.S. citizen and sign an oath that all information provided on the application is truthful. Additionally, when you obtain your Florida driver's license or ID, you must present a birth certificate and documents related to name changes, such as marriage or divorce.

 

The SAVE Act would hinder voting by requiring all U.S. citizens to present very specific documents in person when registering to vote and each time they update their voter registration, such as changes in address or party affiliation. This would be in addition to Florida's current voter ID laws.

 

This bill would be especially burdensome for the tens of millions of married women in the United States who have changed their last name. Surveys show that eight out of ten married women have changed their last name, meaning they do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name and therefore cannot present it as valid proof of citizenship.

 

Registering to vote and updating your voter registration should be a simple process. Making it cumbersome suppresses voting. We want to encourage voting, not suppress it.