The SAVE Act passed the House on Feb. 11, 2026 by a vote of 218-213 and is now in the Senate awaiting a vote. Voting is expected to take place next week, according to Thune. If and when it passes the Senate, it will go to the president for a final signature.
Will SAVE Act Prevent Married Women from Registering to Vote?
Posted on February 28, 2025
Q: Is it true that under the SAVE Act married women will not be able to register to vote if their married name doesn’t match their birth certificate?
A: The proposed SAVE Act instructs states to establish a process for people whose legal name doesn’t match their birth certificate to provide additional documents. But voting rights advocates say that married women and others who have changed their names may face difficulty when registering because of the ambiguity in the bill over what documents may be accepted.
It isn’t the same in all Western countries. For example, it was not a tradition in Portugal for a woman to adopt her husband’s surname, but during Salazar’s dictatorship, the custom was implemented, inspired by other European countries that had this tradition, such as England and Germany. Here it was customary for people to have the last four surnames of their grandparents, first from the mother’s side, then the father’s.
Nowadays, the minimum number of surnames in Portugal is two, one from the mother and one from the father and without a specific order. Both men and women can adopt their partner’s surname after marriage. However, many people choose not to adopt another surname.