Hundreds of thousands of transgender people who are eligible to vote will likely be unable to cast their ballots Tuesday because of state voter ID laws that require their identities to match their identifying documents.
The Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, estimates that of the nearly 880,000 eligible transgender people in the U.S., more than 200,000 lack an ID with their correct name and/or gender yet reside in a state where elections are primarily in person and have voter ID laws.
Transgender advocates have raised concern because transgender and other LGBTQ issues have been prominent on the campaign trail, particularly when it comes to public education and sports.
Republican-led states have increasingly eyed legislation to ban puberty blockers and sex-change surgery for minors, transgender sports and LGBTQ issues being taught in schools.
Advocates argue that transgender people face additional hurdles to obtaining the correct voting documents, such as costs for legal name changes and new IDs, and added scrutiny from elections officials.
The inability of transgender people to cast their ballots could also hurt Democrats because members of the LGBTQ community tend to vote blue.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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