A minuscule number of voters in Assam exercised their franchise under their chosen identity for the first time. Among the 491 ‘third gender’ voters registered in the state, 24 had cast their vote during the three-phased Lok Sabha elections. 

Swati Bidhan Baruah, Assam’s first transgender judge, said she was forced to cast her vote under the ‘Male’ category as she could not get her 'documents rectified'. According to Baruah, the low turnout of voters in the Trans community is primarily because many had failed to change the gender option in the application form for electoral cards. A lack of awareness and social anxiety are among other reasons why they could not vote under their choice of gender.