HB 196 would add a space for candidates to include former legal names on candidacy petitions and expand who may challenge candidate legitimacy based on alleged failure to list former names within the last five years.
While framed as election integrity, this measure disproportionately affects transgender candidates who have legally changed their names. Former names can function as "deadnames," and mandatory public disclosure enables harassment, doxxing, or violence. The expansion of protest eligibility also raises due-process concerns around strategic nuisance challenges.