Earlier this year, the Ohio legislature passed a huge omnibus election law bill which contained provisions that Democrats and Democratic allies strongly oppose. The bill, HB 194, will be suspended until after 2012 if Democrats and their allies successfully collect 231,147 valid signatures on a referendum petition by September 29, 2011. See this story. The second-to-last paragraph says the referendum petition would repeal the contents of the entire bill.
Originally the Democratic referendum petition only proposed to repeal parts of HB 194. However, the referendum organizers have started over because their original proposal was flawed. For simplicity, the revised referendum petition repeals the entire bill. That means the parts of the bill that are responsible for eliminating the Constitution, Green, Libertarian and Socialist Parties would also be suspended if the petition succeeds.
Yaaaaay! Give third parties the ballot access they deserve!
Of late, the Ohio Governor (GOP) wants to “make a deal” with opponents of HB 194. Too late. Many tried to warn the GOP not to cram this thru Ohio Assembly with little to NO input from Democrats. They inflamed the Democrats, Unions, and supporters. And the LP testified to the Ohio Assembly and make suggestions as to what a reasonable ballot access law should be in Ohio. The GOP once again, didn’t want to listen.
So now we have a potential referendum going on the ballot in 2012, if the necessary 231,000+ valid sigs are gathered by end of September. AND, we have a Federal Court case to be heard in late August with the Ohio LP vs the state of OHio– part three. All of this is costing the taxpayer money. But, in OHio, this is the price of Freedom, not to mention the 1st and 14th amendment rights.