The SAVE Act – Three Women’s Stories

For the next three Engage Tuolumne newsletters, we will publish personal stories of three women and how the SAVE Act has affected them. These stories first appeared in the March 2026 edition of the League of Women Voters of the Mother Lode’s Voter Newsletter.

Although the following stories are fictitious, they are based on conversations with three real women in our Mother Lode area who talked about how the SAVE Act would affect them if it came to pass. These women’s stories are like those of thousands of women across the United States.

Note: U.S. Senate is currently debating the SAVE Act, which will need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

SAVE Act Story 1

My mom remarried twice while I was growing up. My name is Marie Louise, at least that is the name that has been mine and only mine for my whole life. My birth name, Marie Louise Baker, is not my maiden name because I asked to have my name changed to match my stepdad’s name when I was 8 years old and attending school. I was then Marie Louise Gerber. I married after Ijoined the army, and then changed my name as my fiancé requested. My name is now Marie Louise Vanderkolk.

Recently, I moved from Modesto, where I raised my children, back to Idaho, where I grew up, and I went online to reregister to vote. Now that the SAVE Act (one of the new laws) has been passed, I discovered that I must prove my citizenship, in person, to register to vote. I am a veteran!!! I have voted in every election since I was 18 years old! Why? My passport has the name Marie Louise Gerber. My driver’s license and Social Security card have Marie Louise Vanderkolk. After waiting in line at the county recorder’s office to register, I am told that I need a bunch of documents to prove that I am the person on that birth certificate. I now need copies of:

• My birth certificate $38
• Name change to maiden name at 8 yrs of age $50
• Marriage license with maiden name $19

So, this presents several hurdles for me: time, money, and patience…. Also, I am offended! I am a United States veteran and have voted all my life. This is humiliating and, to say the least, quite inconvenient.

I ask myself if my vote matters that much. Do my representatives know that they have done this to me and all the women like me? Why have they turned against me? I changed my name when I married, like a woman is supposed to do. And, when I was young, I changed my name because I wanted to belong in my new family as any child would.

WHY is this happening to me now? Why are lawmakers blind to a married woman’s situation?