The county elections board in Ohio disqualified a transgender candidate for state office due to the absence of her deadname on petitions. This decision is a clear violation of the candidate’s rights and it sets a dangerous precedent for other trans candidates who wish to run for office without disclosing their deadnames. It is essential that this decision be reversed immediately. The state’s governor and other trans candidates have already spoken out against this decision. Therefore, it is time for the county elections board to do the right thing and overturn their discriminatory ruling.
Vanessa Joy, a real estate photographer, was able to gather enough signatures to run as a Democrat for Ohio’s House District 50 election, despite the district being a Republican stronghold. Unfortunately, she was disqualified from the race by the Stark County Board of Elections earlier this month. The reason for her disqualification was a little-known state law that requires candidates to disclose any name changes that have taken place within the last five years.
It’s worth noting that the law from 1995 was not referred to in the Ohio Secretary of State’s 2024 candidate guide, and it has not been included in previous candidate guides in recent years. Moreover, Joy’s candidacy petition form did not contain any reference to the law, nor did it have any space to list any name changes.
Joy had requested a reconsideration of a decision made by the Stark County Board of Elections, as per a statement released on January 19th. Unfortunately, the board denied her request, citing an Ohio Supreme Court case that found the law to be “unambiguous.” The court stated that the “intent behind the candidate’s use of a different name is not relevant,” and that the board could not “add an exception that does not appear in the statutory language.”
According to the statement, the Stark County Board of Elections sympathizes with Vanessa Joy’s argument that the Ohio Secretary of State’s campaign election guide lacked specificity.
The board stated that its decision must be based on the law and cannot be applied arbitrarily. However, Joy was one of four transgender candidates running for Ohio office this year. Two others, Bobbie Arnold and Arienne Childrey, had their candidacies for Ohio State House seats challenged under the law. Both have since been cleared to have their names appear on the November ballot. Nonetheless, according to the Associated Press, Arnold and Childrey could technically be removed from office if Joy does not succeed in challenging the law.
Ari Faber is running for Ohio’s state Senate without legally changing his name and using his birth name on the ballot.
While Joy told the AP that, for now, her campaign is over, she is working with an attorney to get the law changed. “I’m out of the race, but I’m not out of the fight,” she said.
Last week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, stated that transgender candidates should not be disqualified for failing to disclose their previous names, and called for changes to ensure that all future candidates are informed of the little-known law.
Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose plans to include the law in future candidate guides but opposes changing it, according to the AP.