On December 2, the Ohio voters who officially sponsored the Gary Johnson petition to be on the ballot in 2016 for president asked the Ohio Secretary of State to recognize them as the Libertarian Party. Those voters’ names appeared on the petition, and they were the individuals who (after the petition was submitted) informed the Secretary of State that the stand-in presidential candidate whose name had been on the ballot were resigning, and that Gary Johnson and Bill Weld were the replacements.
Section 3517.01(A), which governs how new parties may qualify for the ballot, permits groups of voters who sponsor candidates for President or Governor to apply for recognition as a new party, provided their candidate gets at least 3% of the vote. The official election returns show that he got 3.17% in Ohio.
Here is the letter.
Presumably the replacement was done under 3513.31(F) and not 3513.31(A) which does not convert the independent candidacy to party candidacy.
It can not be presumed that persons who signed the petition wanted to form a new party, nor that those who voted for independent candidate Johnson wanted to have a new party qualified.
Election results are available by precinct, so the Libertarian Party can identify where Johnson-minded voters reside.
NO big surprise if the gerrymander HACKS pass all sorts of retroactive laws wiping out ALL third parties and independents from ballot access.
Did Civil WAR II start with the dubious so-called election of DJT ???
See 1860-1861 stuff by the HACKS.
Editorial from today’s Toledo Blade:
http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2016/12/14/Toledo-Blade-editorial-Recognize-the-Libertarians.html