On November 9, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously put Tom Bernabei on the November 3, 2015 ballot as an independent candidate for Mayor of Canton. He submitted a valid petition, but his ballot status was still challenged on the grounds that he was too closely associated with the Democratic Party to be an independent. Here is the opinion in State ex rel Morris v Stark County Board of Elections, 2015-3659. He had been elected to county office in 2012 as a Democrat and had not resigned from that office.

Also, the Court unanimously put Francis Cicchinelli on the ballot as an independent candidate for Mayor of Massillon. He also submitted a valid petition, but was challenged because he had also recently run for other office as a Democrat. Here is the decision in State ex el Richards v Stark County Board of Elections, 2015-3658. At the administrative hearing, Cicchinelli was asked by the challengers when he first considered himself an independent. He replied “primary day, in May of this year.” The Supreme Court ruled that he had thought, when he answered the question, that this was a legal question, and because he had chosen a non-partisan primary ballot, that was his way of saying that legally he was now an independent. For purposes of his ability to qualify as an independent, it was important that his “state of mind” that he was an independent was earlier than that day, and the Court felt that his answer had not disqualified him.

One of the oddest parts of the Cicchinelli case is that his wife was also put on the stand and she was asked when he first considered himself an independent. Ohio state courts have many cases trying to figure out who qualifies as an independent. Section 3501.01 says an “Independent candidate” means “any candidate who does not consider himself affiliated with a political party.” This is an absurd law that should be repealed. Ohio voter registration forms do not ask applicants about their partisan affiliation or lack of it. Given that there is no objective standard in Ohio for who is an independent, the law should be repealed.