Catherine M. Tokarz: How many women will change their names back to preserve voting rights?

To The Daily Sun,

What has Donald Trump been up to this week? Among other disasters, (like siding with the Russian dictator over our allies) he has proposed voter restrictions on anyone whose name does not match that on their birth certificate. That means around 80% of married women in the U.S. who adopted their spouses’ surnames will not have the proof of citizenship they need to vote. That means foster and closed adoption children who don’t always have access to their birth certificates will not be able to vote. This means for our troops serving our country, who do not use their original name, even if they have a military ID, will not be allowed to vote. How about readers' REAL ID/New Hampshire driver's license that we were ordered to obtain? This bill is before the House of Representatives. It’s called the SAVE Act. Just so readers know, non-citizens, including permanent legal residents, cannot vote in federal, state and New Hampshire state laws specifically addresses this. They may not register to vote in NH unless they are a United States citizen.

I’m sure our Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan along with our Democratic Reps. Chris Pappas and Maggie Goodlander will vote to keep our voting rights as they are. They do not hold the majority in Congress. There is no mistake here. The Republicans, led by Trump, are taking away a woman’s right to vote. Our ancestors fought long and hard and were often jailed by men who were afraid of their voices when the suffragette movement began in the 1840s and culminated in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. How many will go to the expense of changing their names back to their original names to ensure their voting rights are preserved if Republicans succeed? I will.

Catherine M. Tokarz

Laconia