“Voter ID laws may create unique barriers to voting for significant numbers of transgender people, particularly in elections decided by a small number of votes,” said Jodi L. Herman, a co-author of the report and a senior public policy scholar at the Williams Institute.
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More than 210,000 transgender adults who are eligible to vote could face significant barriers due to a lack of proper identification, roughly one-quarter of the total transgender population eligible to vote. The need for proper identification is problematic for transgender people in states with stringent voter ID laws.
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These laws require voters to show identification before voting, creating a significant barrier for transgender people if the gender on their ID doesn’t match what they’re listed as. While some states offer provisional ballots to voters with ID issues, states with the most restrictive voter ID laws could disenfranchise 91,300 transgender people by preventing them from voting this year.
These concerns are especially acute for transgender people of color, low-income transgender people, and transgender people with disabilities, who face systemic barriers and discriminatory laws that make it difficult or impossible for them to update their identification.
Thirty-six states require voters to show identification at the polls, and nine states — Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin — require voters to show identification when voting.
Adults who don’t have ID but are otherwise deemed OK must use a provisional ballot, which is used when there’s doubt about a voter’s eligibility. You may also have to provide photo ID in order for your vote to be counted. Additionally, 27 states have new restrictions on voting not seen in previous elections, leaving some voters unsure of exactly what the voting ID requirements are where they live.
More than 170,000 transgender adults live in states with the strictest laws, accounting for roughly one-fifth of all transgender adults eligible to vote in this election. More than 270,000 people do not have identification that matches their gender identity, many of whom live in states that restrict the ability to change identification.
Wisconsin, North Carolina and Georgia are key battleground states that could decide the election and all have restrictive voter ID laws that affect more than 135,000 transgender voters.
These concerns about transgender people’s eligibility to vote are shared by transgender residents in these states, including fears that transphobic poll workers will turn them away. While many transgender people can still vote, there is growing concern that they will encounter problems when they try to vote.
This is despite the fact that transgender people are, on average, more likely to vote than cisgender people. According to a survey by transgender equality advocates, 82% of voting-age transgender people were eligible to vote, compared with 73% of the general American public. Additionally, 75% of voting-age respondents voted in the 2020 presidential election, compared with just 67% of the general American public.
The Williams Institute report is based on data from the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Information on Voter ID Laws, including state population estimates from the 2022 American Community Survey. It also includes data from the 2022 United States Transgender Survey (USTS), conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, on the total number of transgender people. The Institute used this data to calculate the number of transgender people eligible to vote in specific states. It also looked to each state’s voting procedures to determine how people can vote in those states.
