On March 20, the Ohio Libertarian Party asked the Sixth Circuit to expedite its appeal on whether its statewide candidates should be restored to the Libertarian primary ballot. The party’s brief says, “Ohio’s strict, vicarious punishments of candidates for the sins of their circulators is far too much medicine for the ends (disclosure, fraud detection, prevention) it seeks to achieve. If section 3501.38(E)(1) substantially served Ohio’s end in deterring and preventing fraud, after all, the Secretary would enforce it all the time, not just when someone files a protest.”

The brief also points out that the law requiring circulators to fill in a blank, showing who is paying them, has existed for eight years and had never before been used to remove a candidate or a ballot measure from the ballot. Finally, the brief says that the Ohio Supreme Court will soon be considering whether the challenger who challenged the party’s Attorney General candidate, Steve Linnabary, is eligible to be a challenger (he has never voted in a Libertarian primary). The brief asks that the Court order the Secretary of State not to print the Libertarian primary ballots until the Ohio Supreme Court has a chance to settle the matter of the Attorney General candidate. In the Sixth Circuit, the case is 14-3230. This news story covers not only the U.S. District Court decision, but the news that the party has appealed to the Sixth Circuit.