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Transgender Canadians getting voter cards with incorrect names

'Pre-marked' ballots at Vancouver polling station blamed on printing error

Despite updating her voting information during the civic election in Vancouver, and on the day the election was called, Morgane Oger received a voter card with the name she used before she transitioned.

The transgender activist, who is the chair of the Trans Alliance Society, then had to “out” herself to five separate people at the polling station.

“They were very polite and nice but it put everyone in an uncomfortable position,” she tells Yahoo Canada News.

Oger is not alone. A number of transgender Canadians are concerned about receiving voter cards with their birth names on them. In Alberta, 37 people have reached out to the Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA), to alert it that they’ve been mailed voter cards with their birth names instead of their chosen names. Oger has spoken to over 30 members of the trans community who are dealing with the problem, including some who’ve received separate cards — one with their birth name and the other with their current legal name.

TESA president Jan Buterman explains that when someone is going through the process of gender reassignment, a legal name change is usually required. Getting identity documents changed can be an easy or difficult process, depending on the province, he says. This past spring, for example, Alberta updated its regulations, after the courts struck down the previous Vital Statistics Act as unconstitutional, since it involved showing proof of a surgery if there was a gender transition.

Buterman says it’s unclear what’s going on with incorrect names being mailed to trans voters, since Canada Revenue Agency is where Elections Canada gets its current voter information.

“It’s kind of odd,” he tells Yahoo Canada News. “How is it that they’re taking data from there and have current addresses, but don’t seem to have current legal names?”

He explains that having the wrong name on a voter card can be a privacy issue.

“At it’s most basic, that runs the potential of outing you to at least your letter carrier,” he says. “It can also cause rather serious harm if it’s outing you to people you live with who don’t know you’re trans.”

Oger concurs.

“There’s very strong negative outcomes to being trans, if you don’t happen to live in an extremely supportive community,” she says.

Since the issue has received media attention, several women who have taken their husbands’ surnames have come forward to say they’ve been dealing with a similar problem.

Angela Reid, a board member with TESA, says while the issue is affecting more than just the trans community, it’s trickier for them to sort out.

“There’s considerably less social stigma involved in revealing your married name than going into an office and trying to correct why you have a wrong gendered name on your paperwork,” Reid says.

The website votingwhiletrans.ca has since been launched, which aims to help trans people navigate the often confusing steps to register to vote. It was started by a number of transgender groups across the country.

Elections Canada wasn’t immediately available for comment.