How Anti-Trans ID Laws Are Quietly Undermining the Right to Vote

Transgender Pride Flag map of the United States of America. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Devin Kira Murphy.

Midterm elections are held in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, giving voters the chance to elect new members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The outcome of the midterm elections determines if Democrats or Republicans hold a majority in Congress for the next two years. Since a bill must obtain congressional approval to become federal law, the party that holds the majority will also have significant sway over the political landscape.

The new SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act requires voters “to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.. [and] casting a ballot.” Government-issued identification includes driver’s licenses, state IDs, and passports. As a result, individuals without a valid identification that aligns with legal requirements, including some transgender individuals, may face challenges when voting in upcoming elections.

The SAVE Act outlines one of three options for official identification: a driver’s license, a birth certificate, or a passport. However, recent legislation has created barriers for transgender individuals to acquire these forms of identification that align with their gender identity.

Bills disallowing transgender individuals to update their gender on licenses or birth certificates have been enacted in nine states, with additional proposals under consideration. Critics argue that these policies may increase the risk of discrimination and create barriers to travel and voting.

On January 28, 2026, the state of Kansas passed a bill that invalidates driver’s licenses when the listed gender differs from an individual’s sex assigned at birth. Specifically, the bill redefines “gender” as biological sex– rather than a self-identified gender identity. The bill also warrants the state to “invalidate and reissue driver’s licenses…[and] invalidate and reissue birth certificates when necessary to correct gender/sex [respectively] identification.” As a result, identification documents must align with the state’s definition of sex rather than an individual’s gender identity.

In Kansas, licenses were immediately invalidated as the law had no built-in grace period, effectively preventing these individuals from legally driving. This can interfere with many daily functions, ranging from accessing essential goods to maintaining employment. The letters these individuals received specifically stated that continuing to drive would expose them to “additional penalties”.

Additionally, Zane Irwan from NPR states that in situations involving individuals who have medically transitioned, the new identification will “out [them] as transgender, whether [they] like it or not.” Irwan’s report also highlights that support for this legislation has largely come from Republican lawmakers.

Using birth certificates at a polling site would be a way of avoiding these licensing issues; however, many birth certificates do not reflect the legal name of transgender individuals. This occurs because a court-ordered change of name does not extend to birth certificates. Moreover, some states, including Kansas, restrict changes to gender markers on birth certificates.

The final option is to use a passport during the upcoming midterm elections. However, an executive order, signed by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, prohibited the use of an X (nonbinary) marker on passports. This change further prevents transgender individuals from expressing their identities and furthering the potential for harassment when they present official documentation that does not align with their outward expression.

In this new update, individuals applying for a gender-affirming symbol instead received passports that reflected only their sex at birth. This presents a problem for those who have updated other documentation, such as driver's licenses, causing a misalignment in their official identifications. Banks and other important facilities require two forms of identification to allow individuals to open or use their existing accounts. Due to the strictness of these facilities, consistent documentation is required, thereby restricting access to individuals who cannot provide it.

As anti-trans legislation continues to be passed, advocates argue that barriers to voting and services may increase for transgender individuals.