A transgender woman running for an Ohio House seat has been disqualified for failing to disclose her former name on petitions circulated to voters, in violation of a seldom-enforced state law.
Local election officials informed Vanessa Joy, who hoped to run as a Democrat for Ohio House District 50, that she was not eligible to do so, despite having collected the signatures necessary to run.
Joy sought to run in a firmly Republican district covering Stark County, just south of Akron.
The legal name change is all the disclosure you need. That’s a matter of public record. No one is concealing their identity if they’re using their full government name.
The idea that some kind of subterfuge may happen without this law is plainly preposterous. You’re steelmanning it for no reason.