In January 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives reintroduced the so-called Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require all Americans to present citizenship documentation in person when they register to vote or update their voter registration information. For most U.S. citizens, this would mean presenting a certified, state-issued birth certificate or valid U.S. passport displaying the voter’s current legal name.  

According to the U.S. Department of State, less than one half of U.S. citizens currently hold a valid passport, which can be costly and cumbersome to obtain, leaving approximately 146 million U.S. citizens without a passport. More Americans have a birth certificate than a passport, but for 69 million married women across the United States who took their spouses’ last names, their current legal name does not match the name on their birth certificate.  

In Pennsylvania alone, an estimated 2.86 million women do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.  

The title of the proposed SAVE Act implies that it will protect voters’ rights, but in fact, this federal legislation would disenfranchise tens of millions of American citizens, including millions of Pennsylvania residents. The cost and effort involved with procuring a passport or birth certificate amount to a modern-day poll tax, deterring voters who lack the resources to procure new documents or the ability to travel to present those documents in person.  

Rural citizens, seniors, persons with disabilities, and low-income individuals would all be deeply affected, but the greatest potential impact by far would be for married women who have taken their spouse’s last name. The requirement to present a birth certificate would disproportionately affect conservative and Republican-leaning women, who are at least twice as likely as Democratic and Democratic-leaning women to have changed their name to match their husband’s last name.  

As a pre-emptive measure against this federal legislation, which passed the U.S. House in 2024 but was not taken up in the Senate, I plan to introduce legislation to make birth certificates free to all Pennsylvanians, with no application fees or processing fees, to ensure that as many Pennsylvanians as possible are able to obtain the proof of identity documents necessary to protect their right to vote.  

For Pennsylvanians whose names have changed since birth, whether for marriage or any other reason, obtaining an official birth certificate is still often the first step in updating other proof of identity documents so that names are consistent across all forms of identification.  

Please join me in sponsoring this important legislation and protecting Pennsylvania citizens against this egregious attempt at suppressing our vote.