The GOP’s sweeping new anti-voting bill cleared the U.S. House Wednesday, setting up a high-stakes battle in the Senate.
The House voted 218-213 to pass the SAVE America Act, which experts have said could disenfranchise millions by requiring voters to show documentary proof of citizenship at registration and to provide photo ID when they cast ballots.
Republicans have argued for voter ID broadly, pointing out that there isn’t much to prevent a noncitizen from casting a ballot in a federal election — besides the fact that it’s a felony, easily caught, and would lead to deportation all for the chance to cast one out of hundreds of thousands of votes.
But her maiden name is still valid and presumably matches the one on her birth certificate? There’s no legal requirement to change your name for either marriage or divorce, as far as I know, and latitude is wide in terms of hyphenation, etc. You may have more options than you know.
Also, the question of “fraud” only really matters when bills don’t get paid, and now for voting. If you have other evidence of your marriage (pics, invites, announcements, etc) from that time, you can easily prove that your intent was not fraudulent. I wouldn’t sweat that part of it too much yet.
But if I were in your shoes (and I’m not, so take it with a grain) my next step would be to get a free consult with a family attorney in your state, as they’re the lawyers that deal with name changes the most, and get the real picture of what’s actually legal and possible for you in the state where you live. You could also run the fraud question by him/her, if it’s still an issue.
Great advice, my thanks.