Transgender individuals are prohibited from voting under an obscure and infrequently cited Ohio rules. Applicants are required by law to list any name changes over the previous five years on their vote requests. The law forbids title changes brought on by relationship.
The condition is not stated in the rules that go along with vote petitions, so the majority of candidates are unaware of the law.
Vanessa Joy and Arienne Childrey, two prospects, have so far been eliminated from the vote. Both claimed that if they had known about the rules, they may have listed their deceased names. Both had changed their legal names in the previous five times. Both claimed that because they identify as trans, they are badly targeted.
They were prohibited from adding their deceased names to their vote appeals by election officials. Both stated that they intend to run for office in the future.
In Ohio, three additional trans citizens have submitted applications to run for office. When they filed their title changes is unknown.
David Taffet
