SAN ANTONIO CURRENT: Texas' new drivers license rule may make it tougher for trans people to vote

Texas’ newly enacted ban on people changing the gender listed on their driver’s licenses will create hurdles for transgender people at the ballot box, officials with a top voter-education group caution.

The warning from national organization VoteRiders comes a day after the Texas Department of Public Safety adopted a block on people changing the sex on their current drivers licenses unless they request the alteration due to a clerical error.

Texas requires a photo ID to vote in person, which is likely to cause confusion at polling sites if someone presents what appears to be an ID with the wrong gender marker, said Ceridwen Cherry, VoteRiders’ legal director. Additionally, some trans voters worried about an ID mismatch may simply stay home on Election Day.

“Texas law doesn’t require that the poll worker to check the gender marker on your ID, but in this larger environment of hostility, of voter challenges, of trans intimidation in the state, it’s going to make it hard for some transgender voters to feel like they can show up and participate in an election,” Cherry said.

VoteRiders has documented cases in other states where poll workers tried to turn away voters because their outward gender identity and the one listed on their ID didn’t appear to match. A number of those occurred in states that block residents from changing the gender marker on their drivers licenses, Cherry added.

“Nowhere in the law does it say you need a match between your drivers license gender ID and your registration, but we are seeing some election workers starting to take this on themselves,” she said.