2.8 million Georgians are registered to vote. With contentious local and federal elections soon occurring, as well as there being a steady flow of minors turning eighteen, this 2.8 million registered voters will surely increase. 

And, that’s where the problem begins. Generation Z having more voters than ever will also mean there are more non-binary voters than ever. In fact, one in three Gen Z know a person who identifies as gender non-binary (Pew Research Center). 

Moreover, sixty percent of “those aged 13 to 21—members of ‘Generation Z’—believe forms that ask about gender should include options besides ‘man’ or “woman’” (Pew Research Center). In comparison, only fifty percent of millennials believe this and only thirty percent of baby boomers believe this, according to Pew Research Center. 

Despite the evident importance of gender inclusion on forms for a generation that will make up more voters than ever before, Georgia still only includes female and male as options on voter registration forms. This is a particular concern for this state when one considers that the Atlanta metro area has the seventeenth highest LGBTQIA+ population in the United States at 4.2% identifying as such. 

This problem refers back to an even more significant one: why is your gender necessary to report when registering to vote? In fact, when Election Online questioned states about if they required gender to register, “of the 34 states and the District that responded, 15 do not ask for the information, 13 have a box on their voter registration forms for gender, but do not require it, six require a perspective voter to complete the gender and North Dakota does not have voter registration”. 

Connecticut, for instance, makes gender reporting optional, while Washington has a large variety of gender identities that prospective voters can choose from (Election Online). Interestingly enough, this statistic corresponds to the fact that Connecticut and Washington are considered among the easiest states to register to vote in. 

Ease in registering to vote corresponds with higher voter turnout in general. Thus, increasing the ease of voting for LGBTQIA+ individuals would likely mean more voters from this group than ever in the state of Georgia.

Gender non-binary and transgender people deserve the decency to either represent their true identity on voter registration forms or simply not be required to represent this personal fact on voting registration forms.