Republicans Are After Your Right to Vote; Ladies, I’m Talking to You.

The House of Representatives was busy yesterday. They passed a resolution to bring Trump’s $4.5 trillion budget to the floor for a vote, adding trillions to the deficit, by cutting $1 trillion in healthcare, (they keep denying that) and giving trillions in tax-cuts to the richest people, like Elon Musk, who does’t need a tax cut.

But wait, there’s more. Your elected officials, the ones you voted into office, ironically, want to take away your right to vote. They know we’re angry and will vote them out, which is why they passed the SAVE Act that will make it harder for the military, women, and all people in rural communities to vote.

The midterms are [remove shoes and socks to check math] eighteen-months away. There is a concerted effort in the works to disenfranchise as many of us as possible, we have a year and a half to get ready.

Ladies, if the name on your birth certificate does not match your driver’s license, the discrepancy will be used as a tool to keep you from registering to vote. But there are ways to get around it.

The idea of this reminds me of an experience I had last year. Do you have your “Real ID?” I traded in my driver’s license for one with my last renewal, and let me tell you, it wasn’t easy.

Here’s what happened:

• I created an appointment online.
• Then I spent hours on my hair and makeup for the photo I’d be stuck with for years. I checked my rearview mirror before exiting my car at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Camera ready.
• I started back of the line, because I’m not an asshole, practicing my facial expression exercises to pass the time: sexy, serious, playful, driver’s authorization. (Please note, I was not the craziest person queued up.)
• After an hour, I made it to the counter with the self-assurance of someone who researched the list of required documents: old driver’s license, social security cards, (maiden name and married name) bank statement, passport, utility bill, mortgage bill, and a stool sample birth certificate. I smiled at the man who could make or break my day, thinking, ‘no one is as prepared as I am.’

Employee: “Your birth certificate name matches nothing you have here.” 

Me: “It matches one of those Social Security cards. I changed my name when I was married.”

Employee: “Married?” 

Me: “Mmhmm”

Employee: “Where is the marriage certificate?”

Me: “…”

Employee: “You need it.”

Me: “… can I come right back, or do I need to make another appointment? I live close!”

Employee: “You can come back. You’ll have to start at the end of the line.”

I drove home and rummaged through files. Found it! Then I quickly returned, checking the mirror, I cursed, and a single sob escaped my soul. The line was longer than before, and my back (the one that has been fused with titanium screws and other hardware) was seizing. I am able to writhe in pain subtly, and so I did. At the counter, I was served by a lady this time. Pointing to her colleague I explained the situation and that I had the document I needed. She had him help me.

Employee: “You’re divorced?” 

Me: “Mmhmm.” [🎶 🎤And it makes me wonder,(Led Zeppelin référence) if he going to ask me out.]

Employee: “Where is the divorce decree?”

Me: “…” [SON OF A BITCH - FUCK MY LIFE] : This is a silent thought because if you speak your thoughts, the guards drag your ass out.

Me: “I’ll come back.”

Off I skipped to my home, and where the hell was that file? I finally found the document that says, “dissolution of marriage.” And off I went… again. I checked my mirror and shook my head.

The employee who sent me home both times waved me to the front of the line.

Employee: “Okay, it’s not a copy and has a notary stamp. I forgot to mention that you needed that.” 

I smiled as he went through my papers, then left his post to get a manager. (Not a a great sign.) The supervisor told me that there was nothing in this file that said I was legally allowed to keep the name after the divorce.

Suddenly I was a soprano speaking at a C6 octave:

Me: “I didn’t know that was that thing.”

Supervisor: “Sorry. Maybe you’d rather make an appointment for another day.” 

I still had a couple of hours and I am nothing if not a tenacious contralto, with melted makeup.

Me: “Nope, I’ll be back.” 

Papers flew files were dumped, I found a phonebook-sized envelope, marked “Divorce.”

*Kids, *phonebooks were 6” thick books with phone numbers and addresses for everyone in your area listed, mailed out for free to everyone, including stalkers.

I took off, and made it there 60 minutes before they stopped letting people in. I stood at the back of the line again. When I got to the front, I realized I hadn’t checked the mirror and imagined I must look nothing like I did at 9am. Would he recognize me? He did, but cringed. I gently slammed the divorce documents on the counter. The supervisor appeared and flipped through them. A security guard on standby took a small step forward.

Me: “No, I don’t know what page it would be on, or if it’s even in there. That’s all I have.”

Supervisor: “I found it. Okay. Get in line for the picture.”

Me: (UGHHHH!)

Sweaty and haggard, the photographer waited until I was mid-sneeze to take the shot.

Photographer: “No re-do… sorry.” (She was not fucking sorry.)

I got to the next post, where a ten-year-old called me up. He looked through my now organized pages and typed in my information. When he handed me the completed document, an argument ensued.

Me: “My middle name, on my birth certificate, is not on my passport, my old driver's license, my government issued airport parking badge… it is literally on nothing but my birth certificate. This will be rejected because ‘🎶That’s Not My Name.’” I loved that song. 

I pulled out my wallet and dumped everything: my credit cards, my (specific unnamed) Airlines ID, (specific unnamed) airport parking badge, (which let me tell you, was stupidly difficult to acquire) government issued ‘United States DOT FAA Flight Attendant ID’… (circulated after a contract negotiation, and serving no purpose but to distract us from the increase in health insurance premiums. Look, a TJMaxx credit card I forgot I had, and from the 1980s, a .05 cent coupon I had used as a bookmark, for a feminine hygiene product (expired.) The young man wanted to chat about my job. We talked until I realized the sun was setting and I lost my composure. I explained I was injured in turbulence and no longer had the job. At that point I was slouched over the counter. I’ve had 3 spinal fusions and my rotator cuff and labrum on my right shoulder repaired.

None of that was relevant. My point in over-sharing was to show that my given middle name hasn’t been my legal name since before he was born. The coupon was older than him!

Me: “Everything in those government and work IDs needed to match exactly. No variations were allowed, and “I’ll be damned” [channel Christopher Walken in pulp fiction] if this is going to trigger a redo.”

He disagreed, but fixed it telling me he thought it would be rejected, and I thought:

Me: “I’ll take my chances. See ya.”

I was right. The child laborer was wrong. I got my real (ugly) ID.

The reason I gave you that long, detailed (TMI) story is to explain what republicans are trying to do with new legislation that just passed in the house. If the birth certificate doesn’t match the government issued ID/driver’s license, you may not be able to register to vote.

This will affect 40% of the female voting population.

“Control the women.” Project 2025

They’re also trying to put restrictions on vote-by-mail, and limit, if not end, early voting.

https://vote.gov/

This is what you need to do. Tell everyone you know that if their birth certificate doesn’t match their drivers license, they need to get it straightened out now.:

• Apply for a passport, now. They take forever.
• Get a REAL ID. Go armed with your wedding certificate. Make sure it has a notary’s stamp and is not a copy. If you’re divorced but kept the ex’s name, dig out the entire (notarized) divorce packet and put a sticky note on the page that says you are allowed to keep your name. Keep all those documents in a file.
• Take the Real-ID file with you when you vote because there are chaos agents at work who don’t want your vote to count.
• Check vote.gov for changes in rules.

Republicans realize how unpopular they’ve become. We have a bipartisan common enemy now. And they know it. They’re setting up an unfair election. The only way they can win in 2026 is by turning away voters and disqualifying votes. With Elon Musk and his merry band of hackers, we need every vote.

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/10/just-the-first-set-of-cuts-expert-warns-budget-is-designed-to-collapse-the-social-safety-net/

I need to add, that if the government requires passports for people to vote, they should be free.