TEEN VOGUE: Trans Voters Face Barriers in Voter ID Laws. Here’s What to Know

BY TORI GANTZ, TEEN VOGUE — OCTOBER 24, 2024

This story was written by Teen Vogue’s 2024 Student Correspondents, a team of college students and recent graduates covering the election cycle from key battleground states.

“It’s impossible to separate voting rights and trans rights.”

Restrictive identification requirements and voter ID laws can make it difficult for youth in the United States who identify within the Two Spirit, transgender, and gender-nonconforming (2STGNC) umbrella to cast a ballot. Ahead of the 2024 general election, a few voter ID groups are determined to ensure these young people are not disenfranchised.

Transgender rights continue to be at the center of political attacks, as mainstream media outlets normalize anti-trans rhetoric and legislatures across the country file a mounting number of anti-trans bills each year. That’s why advocates are stressing the importance of demarginalizing trans and gender-nonconforming people’s access to vote.

Teen Vogue previously reported on pre-election polling from digital health care service Folx Health that found “the top three issues in order for the trans adults surveyed were LGBTQ+ issues, including health care access; threats to democracy; and the war on Gaza.” Per the survey, 90% of trans people are registered voters.

“It’s impossible to separate voting rights and trans rights when we’re thinking about the experience of the trans community at the ballot box this fall,” VoteRiders executive director Lauren Kunis tells Teen Vogue. The national voting rights organization is partnered with HeadCount to get more LGBTQ+ young people the correct identification they need to register to vote.

According to HeadCount, 27 states have strict identification rules that slow down the process for trans and gender-nonconforming people to change their legal name or update their gender marker on key documents such as driver’s licenses and birth certificates. VoteRiders also lists more than 35 states that have voter ID laws, meaning people must present a form of ID the government accepts to confirm their identity before participating in elections. Eighteen of those states have enacted stricter policies since 2020, when the movement to vote by mail or absentee ballot peaked during the onset of the COVID pandemic.

Read the full article in Teen Vogue.