On Thursday, March 14, 2024, Injustice Watch reported that Ashonta C. Rice was removed from the ballot while running for judge in Cook County, Illinois due to a name change law.

According to the report, Rice had legally changed her name back to her maiden name of Rice in June 2023 after filing for divorce from her husband earlier that year. However, the Cook County Electoral Board removed her from the ballot for violating a 2007 Illinois law that requires candidates who change their names within three years of an election to disclose their previous name. The board argued that since Rice’s divorce was not yet finalized, she should have included her married name on her nomination paperwork.

Rice maintained that she has consistently used her maiden name both personally and professionally for years. Her attorney argued she was not attempting to mislead voters or gain any political advantage by the name change. He said it was an unfair interpretation of the law to remove her from the ballot given that a judge in her divorce case had legally changed her name back to Rice.

The report revealed that almost all candidates challenged under this law since it was enacted have been women involved in divorce proceedings. Furthermore, every candidate removed from ballots has not been endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party. In Rice’s case specifically, one of the electoral board members who voted to remove her, Gloria Chevere, had professional connections to Rice’s opponent, Judge James Murphy-Aguilú.

Chevere had previously served on an advisory panel that recommended Murphy-Aguilú for a temporary judicial appointment. This raised conflicts of interest concerns about Chevere’s impartiality in the case. However, Chevere did not recuse herself from voting. The electoral board proceeded to remove Rice from the ballot, a decision later upheld by appellate courts.

The original sponsor of the 2007 law, former state representative John Fritchey, said Rice’s case highlighted ambiguities in how the law is applied. He argued its intent was to prevent candidates from changing names solely to mislead voters, not for situations like Rice’s resulting from legal name changes in divorce proceedings. Removing women for name changes due to divorce risked unfair targeting, according to experts.

Injustice Watch’s examination found a few other cases since 2007 where female candidates faced similar challenges after name changes from divorce. However, only one involved a male candidate challenging whether a name added to his ballot listing was a change. The report concluded the law in practice disproportionately impacted women candidates in Cook County judicial races. Rice acknowledged that, despite her qualifications, she had no chance of winning the election if her name was not included on the ballot.

 

 

Source: Injustice Watch