Trans people face barriers at the polls. The LGBTQ+ community is helping...

[Jessica_Rose]

Trans people face barriers at the polls. The LGBTQ+ community is helping knock them down.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trans-people-face-barriers-at-the-polls-the-lgbtq-community-is-helping-knock-them-down/ar-AA1tu5oE?ocid=windirect&cvid=81287428156844b1b4963bd25b9ffaf7&ei=46

Story by Matthew Wexler (4 Nov 2024)

As LGBTQ+ groups mobilize ahead of Election Day, Wulf Roby knows firsthand that access to the voting booth cannot be taken for granted. Roby, a 39-year-old nonbinary advocate and community leader, says they were routinely refused the ability to vote before having their name legally changed in 2017. When Roby would present their uncorrected Kansas driver's license at the polls, they would be accused of fraud and turned away, occasionally given the option of filling out a provisional ballot.

According to the Williams Institute, a pro-LGBTQ+ think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles, more than 210,000 trans people could potentially be unable to vote because they lack access to the identification necessary to cast a ballot in their state.

Per the Williams Institute, 21% of eligible trans voters reside in states with the strictest possible measure in place: the requirement to show a government-issued ID at the polls rather than a piece of mail, utility bill, or other means of identity verification. A 2022 report from the National Center for Trans Equality found that 48% of trans people did not have a single form of ID with their correct name on it, and 59% did not have gender-congruent identification.