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.
In the US, it was a tradition. If it was a law at some point I never heard about it so probably way back. I’m pretty sure my aunt didn’t change her name with her first marriage and that would have been over 50 years ago.
There were always exceptions to that tradition and they are becoming common. Of the same sex marriages I know, they each kept their name.
Of the different sex marriages among my friends, all but two changed their name but I’m an older generation from many people here. I expect my kids generation to have very different results: we’ll see in a few more years