Voter identification laws in specific states could make it much more difficult for transgender Americans to vote in the upcoming presidential election, a new report from the Williams Institute states.
“Voter ID laws can create a unique barrier to voting for a substantial number of transgender people, which is particularly impactful in elections decided by a small number of votes,” said Jody L. Herman, the report’s co-author and a senior public policy scholar at the Williams Institute.
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Upwards of 210,000 transgender adults who are eligible to vote could face significant barriers due to a lack of proper identification, comprising nearly a fourth of the total trans population who are eligible to vote. The need for proper ID becomes an issue for trans people in states with strict voter ID laws.
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Such laws require voters to provide their ID in person before being allowed to vote, creating a huge barrier for trans people if their ID’s gender marker doesn’t match their presentation. While some states provide provisional ballots for voters with ID issues, states with the strictest voter ID laws could disenfranchise 91,300 trans people by preventing them voting this year.
These concerns are especially exacerbated for trans people of color, low income trans people, and disabled trans folks who face institutional barriers or discriminatory laws making it difficult or impossible to update their IDs.
Thirty-six states have requirements for voters to show ID at the polls. Nine states — Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin — require voters to present their ID in order to vote.
Adults who don’t have ID but are otherwise deemed acceptable have to use a provisional ballot, ballots used whenever questions exist about a voter’s eligibility. Some may have to submit a photo ID for their ballot to count. Additionally, 27 states have new restrictions for voting not seen in prior elections, leaving some voters unclear about the exact voting ID requirements where they live.
Over 170,000 trans adults live in states with the strictest laws, making up nearly a fifth of trans adults who can vote in this election. Over 270,000 lack identity documents that match their gender identity, and many live in states that have restricted their ability to change them.
Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Georgia are potential swing states that could determine the election’s outcome, and they each have restrictive voter ID laws. Their laws impact over 135,000 trans voters.
These worries about trans people’s eligibility to vote are shared among trans residents in these states, including worries about whether transphobic poll workers will turn them away. While many trans people are still able to vote regardless, there’s nevertheless a growing worry about something going wrong when they try to cast their vote.
All of this is in spite of the fact that trans people are, on average, more likely to vote than cisgender people. According to a survey from Advocates for Trans Equality, 82% of voting-age trans people were eligible to vote, compared to 73% of the general American population. Additionally, 75% of voting-age respondents voted in the 2020 presidential election, whereas only 67% of the general population did.
The Williams Institute report draws from data from the National Conference of State Legislatures’ information on voter ID laws, and includes state population estimates from the 2022 American Community Survey. Additionally, it includes data from the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS), conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, on the total number of trans people. The institute drew from this data to calculate the number of trans people eligible to vote in a given state. The institute also drew from voting procedures in different states to determine how people can vote in these states.
