How Trans Voters Could be Excluded from the Election

Only one of the 35 states that will require ID to vote in November’s presidential election has specific guidance for poll workers on how to apply the rules for transgender Americans, raising concerns they could be disenfranchised because of changes to their names or appearance.
A Newsweek analysis of poll worker manuals and other instructions from states shows that only Rhode Island has specific guidance relating to trans voters. The other states contained no mention of transgender voters in guidance documents seen.
“In places where you have to have a photo ID to vote, unfortunately, trans people may face barriers—both because of difficulties in obtaining an accepted ID or because they could face bias or misunderstandings of the law as it relates to their gender,” Michell Kanter Cohen, policy director and senior counsel at the nonpartisan voting rights group Fair Election Center told Newsweek.
“States should provide guidance for poll workers, especially in states with photo ID requirements, to make sure it is clear that a person’s gender differences or presentation does not affect their right to vote.”
Although transgender voters may not be a big enough constituency to swing the presidential election by themselves, the issue of democratic processes and voting rights looms large over the election, with Republicans generally favoring tougher procedures, saying they prevent fraud, and Democrats saying such measures could exclude minorities.
Trans rights have themselves become a touchstone issue in recent years from questions over whether trans women should be allowed to participate in women’s sports to gender affirming care for minors and to whether people should be able to choose their own pronouns and get others to respect their choices.
According to a September 2024 report released by the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California School of Law, more than 210,000 voting-eligible transgender adults could be at risk of being disenfranchised due to the strictest of voter ID rules where differing facial features and potential “dead names” on ID cards, the name a transgender person is given at birth but no longer uses after transitioning, may cause confusion.
Of the 35 states that now require a government-issued identification to vote in person, 24 require a photo identification such as a driver’s license or a U.S. passport. That is four more than at the 2020 election.
The Rhode Island Secretary of State’s office has created a flyer entitled “Voting While Trans” in collaboration with Thundermist Health Center, a community health center, to provide information to voters ahead of the election. The state is also issuing free voter IDs instead of state IDs and people can use their updated photos and names to vote in the election.
Faith Chybowski, director of communications and public affairs for the Rhode Island Department of State said: “We are very cognizant of the difficulty this may present for voters whose gender identity, preferred name, or physical appearance may not match what’s on their photo ID.”
Of the 24 states with photo ID, some have issued strict laws meaning those without valid ID may be turned away until they can provide it. Other more lenient laws allow people to vote subject to additional checks like matching their ID signatures to their voting registration signatures to prove their identity, or by casting a provisional ballot, meaning a ballot is counted subject to verifying the voter’s identity after the election.
Other states indicated to Newsweek that they would support transgender voters to case their vote despite lacking official guidance pertaining to this issue.
Vinola Rodrigues, public information officer at Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office in Florida, where photo ID is required but those without it can cast a provisional ballot, said polling workers are trained to recognize changes in people’s appearances. But she added the particular issue for transgender voters “has surfaced rarely in our demographic.”
She said: “Respect and sensitivity are central to our training, and we remain mindful of the unique challenges faced by the trans community. It’s also worth noting that gender information is optional on our voter registration form, as we aim to make the process as inclusive as possible.”
Rachel Soulek, director division of elections in South Dakota, where voters are told to bring photo identification to polling stations but can use other forms of voting verification or cast a provisional vote in other instance, said staff receive training to verify that the picture on ID matches the person and name on the voting registration list.
She told Newsweek: “Currently, we do not have specific training on issues related to trans people, but our goal is to ensure that all eligible voters, including trans individuals, can participate in elections. As always, voters who face challenges with their IDs will still have the opportunity to vote provisionally while the situation is reviewed.”
Voters without photo ID in South Carolina can also cast a provisional ballot. However, a spokesperson for the South Carolina State Election Commission confirmed they do not have specific guidance for voters who are transgender.
Delaware voters need identification cards such as a driver’s license. A spokesperson said Delaware has no specific guidance regarding transgender voters.
In Nebraska, voters need photo ID as of April 2024. A spokesperson said their training for poll workers does not explicitly address gender markers but said it addresses questions related to name changes or personal appearance changes.
A Nebraska poll worker guide said, regarding ID: “The name on the photo ID does not need to exactly match the voter’s registration. name on the photo ID does not need to exactly match the voter’s registration. The election official shall make this determination based on the totality of the circumstances, construing all evidence, along with any explanation or documentation voluntarily offered by the person presenting to vote, in the light most favorable to the voter.”
The remaining 30 states with ID rules either directed Newsweek to their respective websites, sent information over email about their voting rules or did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment. None of the websites or emails addressed information regarding transgender voters, Newsweek analysed publicly availably data for the states that did not respond to requests for comment.
The Williams Institute report found that 91,300 transgender adults live in states with rigid photo ID requirements and that 173,000 transgender adults live in states that have the strictest voter ID laws.
It also found that 276,500 transgender adults lack ID documents that match their gender identity, but found that not all of them live in states with strict voter ID laws,
Roz Keith, the founder and executive director of the Michigan based transgender charity Stand With Trans encouraged trans people to educate themselves about their rights ahead of the election.
“If allowed, one great way to avoid showing ID at the polling center is to vote absentee. In Michigan, you can vote absentee and/or sign an affidavit confirming your identity which will override the need to show identification. We also recommend bringing an advocate with you to the polls. It can be dangerous for trans folks to be somewhere as public as a polling place by themselves,” she told Newsweek.
Voters will choose between presidential candidates with different views of trans rights. When Trump was in office he oversaw the removal of gender identity and sexuality from federal non-discrimination provisions regarding health care, employment and housing and the Defense Department banned trans people from enlisting in the army and restricted soldier’s right to transition.
In a campaign video released in February 2023, entitled: “President Trump’s plan to protect children from left-wing gender insanity,” the former president said that if re-elected, he will call on Congress to nationally define gender as binary and unchangeable from birth, stop the provision of gender-affirming care and stop Medicare and Medicaid funding for hospitals that do so.
Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration reversed Trump’s ban transgender people in the military.
Harris’ campaign website says: “As President, she’ll fight to pass the Equality Act to enshrine anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQI+ Americans in health care, housing, education, and more into law.
In 2015, Harris led an attorney general office that fought a lawsuit seeking gender affirming care for Californian trans prisoners but in 2019 she said she worked “behind the scenes” to change the policy.”
In 2019, she indicated she supported adding a “third gender” to federal identification cards at a town hall event in New Hampshire.
“Transition treatment is a medical necessity, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to deliver transition treatment,” she wrote in 2020.