whether or not the SAVE Act passes...
Anyone in the US who has ever changed your name, including for marriage or to hide from an abuser, get backups of your important documents, just in case.
You can request certified copies from county clerk offices for your birth and marriage certificates! If you aren't near that county anymore, you can usually mail a notarized request in! Notarizations cost the most in CA and NY, but they are fairly cheap everywhere else. And then you are just paying the county clerk fee. In California, this is, or was, $10 per document requested. Again, other states are usually cheaper.
You would need a certified copy of your birth certificate to get a passport anyway, and if you have a passport, you should be able to get your Real ID from your state without issue.
And if it passes, I want to contribute to or help set up a fund to help people get these things. But also, voting is supposed to be a state's rights issue, so I assume this shit would get challenged. But you know... we live in this hot mess for the time being so. Better safe than sorry.
Passports DO cost more money to get, but if you can get a passport right now, I'd recommend it.
For that you will need the pictures (which you can get done at the post office, as well as sending in the paperwork. You can make an appointment but most don't require that.). You can get the pictures done elsewhere but that costs you money and might get rejected.
You will also need the application fee, and the certified copy of your birth certificate or other proof of citizenship. And the application, all filled out.
In normal times, this is not a stressful procedure, just a little expensive for some of us. It's gonna total about $200 including the county clerk fees.
