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.
Texas DPS officials haven't explained the rationale for this week's rule change, but Cherry said it's impossible to ignore its implications at the voting booth. Indeed, many of the same states that have adopted bans on changing genders on driver's licenses have also tried to make it harder for their residents to cast ballots.
"We definitely can't look at these policies in isolation," Cherry said. "We have to look at them against a backdrop of a number of other voting restrictions that are going on right now, especially a number that are very intimidating. ... We're seeing a huge uptick in voter-registration challenges, and many of those are happening in states that are instituting these trans bans."
Indeed, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature in 2021 passed a controversial bill tightening state election laws and limiting counties’ ability to expand voting options.
Even before the law's passage, Texas was already one of the hardest states in which to cast a ballot, according to voting-rights groups. What's more, the state has a long history of voter suppression and intimidation.
Trans Texans who want to avoid showing their driver's license at the polls can obtain a federal passport card or a full-fledged passport, both of which are among the state's acceptable forms of polling-place ID, according to Cherry. When obtaining a passport or passport card, applicants select their own gender identity.
VoteRiders also partnered with get-out-the-vote group HeadCount to offer online resources to help LGBTQ+ voters overcome ID confusion and other barriers.
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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.
Texas DPS officials haven't explained the rationale for this week's rule change, but Cherry said it's impossible to ignore its implications at the voting booth. Indeed, many of the same states that have adopted bans on changing genders on driver's licenses have also tried to make it harder for their residents to cast ballots.
"We definitely can't look at these policies in isolation," Cherry said. "We have to look at them against a backdrop of a number of other voting restrictions that are going on right now, especially a number that are very intimidating. ... We're seeing a huge uptick in voter-registration challenges, and many of those are happening in states that are instituting these trans bans."
Indeed, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature in 2021 passed a controversial bill tightening state election laws and limiting counties’ ability to expand voting options.
Even before the law's passage, Texas was already one of the hardest states in which to cast a ballot, according to voting-rights groups. What's more, the state has a long history of voter suppression and intimidation.
Trans Texans who want to avoid showing their driver's license at the polls can obtain a federal passport card or a full-fledged passport, both of which are among the state's acceptable forms of polling-place ID, according to Cherry. When obtaining a passport or passport card, applicants select their own gender identity.
VoteRiders also partnered with get-out-the-vote group HeadCount to offer online resources to help LGBTQ+ voters overcome ID confusion and other barriers.
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