Of the estimated 1.4 million adults who identify as transgender in the U.S., nearly a million are eligible to vote. But according to a study published by UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute in February of this year, about 42% of those voters could face barriers to casting a ballot in November, because they lack photo IDs that match their gender or their correct name.

The risk of disenfranchisement is highest in the 35 states that require voters to show some form of ID at the polls, ranging from utility bills to government-issued photo IDs in the strictest states. Voter ID laws have proliferated since 2006, ostensibly to prevent cases of voter fraud (which is exceedingly rare). Critics of the strict requirements say they can end up disenfranchising low-income, Black, and Latino voters, as well as other vulnerable groups.

Legally, poll workers cannot turn voters away for being transgender or non-binary, or for having an outdated photo on their license. But that doesn’t necessarily stop poorly trained or discriminatory poll workers from challenging the rights of transgender voters if the picture or gender identity indicated on their ID doesn’t match their perceived presentation. In one November 2019 incident, for example, a transgender woman in North Carolina reported that a poll worker demanded she produce a photo ID, although the state’s law was not yet in effect.

Having a poll worker ridicule or even just call attention to a trans person’s identity could lead to harmful altercations, transgender rights advocates fear. Read more via Bloomberg