As expected, Ohio’s Secretary of State did not appeal Libertarian Party of Ohio v Blackwell to the US Supreme Court.
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Ohio Secretary of State, as expected, Does Not Ask for US Supreme Court Review of Libertarian Ballot Access Decision — No Comments
So how many signatures are needed now to get full party ballot status with the party label next to the name of the candidates in Ohio?
I see that the 5,000 signature requirement is still listed on the chart but that’s for a statewide candidate as an independent.
There is no valid law in place in Ohio just now on how many signatures are needed for a new party to get itself, or its candidates (with the party label) on the November ballot. If the Ohio legislature doesn’t fix this, at the next election (under 6th circuit precedent), any group can demand to be placed on the ballot.
Isn’t the primary system in Ohio still in place? Any party with a place on the ballot (i.e. any group that asks, since there’s no valid law) has a primary, with the primary winners placed on the general election ballot. The signature requirement to get on the primary ballot is 50 for district candidates and 1000 for statewide candidates (half that for minor parties). Any recognized party can place its presidential candidate on the general election ballot by submitting a list of presidential electors. Was that overturned by LPO v. Blackwell, too?
When does the legislature have to decide on this by?
In Ohio, you have to register as a Democrat or Republican to vote in that party’s primary. The registration includes an oath that you support the party you register for, but you may change your party affiliation at any time.
All of this is before LPO v. Blackwell.
Stine is somewhat misleading, in that no one in Ohio registers in a Party. The over 70% of “non-affiliated” registered voters in the state have that registration status because they have never chosen to vote in a D or R primary. If a “non-affiliated” voter does request to vote in a D or R primary, which is their choice by merely requesting a D or R ballot on primary election day, the State brands that voter as a D or R for a minumum of 4 years. At that point Stine is quite correct, in that such a voter has to sign a form to change parties if they request the ballot of a party other than the party in which the State has them affiliated.
Currently only the D and R parties have ballot access in OH. Around 44,000 valid signatures were required to attain Minor Party ballot access in OH. It seems there were two minor parties with ballot access in 2000. Natural Law, whose status I used to be on the ballot for OH1 US Congress in 2000, was one. The Libertarian Party was the other. It seems to me there have been none other since 2000.
The vast majority of voters who do have to sign the oath of support, sign it only as a matter of expedience to vote in a one-time primary. In other words, most voters have to lie to vote in a D or R primary of their choice. Ohio voters have very few choices of any kind. The Federal Court recognized the plight of Ohio voters. Rich
Jeff Wolfe said “The signature requirement to get on the primary ballot is 50 for district candidates and 1000 for statewide candidates (half that for minor parties).” He is correct that 25 would be needed if any Minor Party had ballot access in Ohio; I needed 25 valid for US Congress in 2000 as a minor party canididate, but there are no minor parties recognized today. John Mitchel, Reform Party, needed 1000 valid in 1998. We got them. Independents needed 5000 valid.
Independents needed 5000 valid signatures for statewide candidates in Ohio in 2006. For istance, John Eastman, for SOS, Independent. Tim Kettler, SOS, Independent; Bob Fitrakis and Anita Rios, Governor and Lt Governor, Independents. All were minor party affiliated, but with no minor party ballot access. They needed and got over 5000 valid signatures each for 2006.
Valid signatures equal to 1% of the votes cast in a district in the previous Gubernatorial election year is required for all independents. That number of valid signatures for OH 1 US Congress was 1,675 valid for 2006. I know, I only got 1200 signatures and did not get on the ballot.
What does an independent do in 2007 and beyond? Does the decison address independent candidates? In my experience, over 80% of voters in Ohio are actual political independents with no political party affiliation of any kind. Rich
It is my understanding that the petitioning requirements did not change for candidates of any type (party candidates or independent candidates).
What changed was the petitioning requirement for political parties. Previously, a “new” party (one without ballot status) had to submit signatures equal to 1% of the last vote for governor or president (which usually worked out to something between 30,000 and 45,000, depending on the election).
That law is now invalid. Some have said that means the signature requirement for a “new” party is now zero. That’s probably true. The Secretary of State is the chief elections officer in Ohio, so she will have to decide what to do in the absence of a valid law.
So how many signatures are needed now to get full party ballot status with the party label next to the name of the candidates in Ohio?
I see that the 5,000 signature requirement is still listed on the chart but that’s for a statewide candidate as an independent.
There is no valid law in place in Ohio just now on how many signatures are needed for a new party to get itself, or its candidates (with the party label) on the November ballot. If the Ohio legislature doesn’t fix this, at the next election (under 6th circuit precedent), any group can demand to be placed on the ballot.
Isn’t the primary system in Ohio still in place? Any party with a place on the ballot (i.e. any group that asks, since there’s no valid law) has a primary, with the primary winners placed on the general election ballot. The signature requirement to get on the primary ballot is 50 for district candidates and 1000 for statewide candidates (half that for minor parties). Any recognized party can place its presidential candidate on the general election ballot by submitting a list of presidential electors. Was that overturned by LPO v. Blackwell, too?
When does the legislature have to decide on this by?
In Ohio, you have to register as a Democrat or Republican to vote in that party’s primary. The registration includes an oath that you support the party you register for, but you may change your party affiliation at any time.
All of this is before LPO v. Blackwell.
Stine is somewhat misleading, in that no one in Ohio registers in a Party. The over 70% of “non-affiliated” registered voters in the state have that registration status because they have never chosen to vote in a D or R primary. If a “non-affiliated” voter does request to vote in a D or R primary, which is their choice by merely requesting a D or R ballot on primary election day, the State brands that voter as a D or R for a minumum of 4 years. At that point Stine is quite correct, in that such a voter has to sign a form to change parties if they request the ballot of a party other than the party in which the State has them affiliated.
Currently only the D and R parties have ballot access in OH. Around 44,000 valid signatures were required to attain Minor Party ballot access in OH. It seems there were two minor parties with ballot access in 2000. Natural Law, whose status I used to be on the ballot for OH1 US Congress in 2000, was one. The Libertarian Party was the other. It seems to me there have been none other since 2000.
The vast majority of voters who do have to sign the oath of support, sign it only as a matter of expedience to vote in a one-time primary. In other words, most voters have to lie to vote in a D or R primary of their choice. Ohio voters have very few choices of any kind. The Federal Court recognized the plight of Ohio voters. Rich
Jeff Wolfe said “The signature requirement to get on the primary ballot is 50 for district candidates and 1000 for statewide candidates (half that for minor parties).” He is correct that 25 would be needed if any Minor Party had ballot access in Ohio; I needed 25 valid for US Congress in 2000 as a minor party canididate, but there are no minor parties recognized today. John Mitchel, Reform Party, needed 1000 valid in 1998. We got them. Independents needed 5000 valid.
Independents needed 5000 valid signatures for statewide candidates in Ohio in 2006. For istance, John Eastman, for SOS, Independent. Tim Kettler, SOS, Independent; Bob Fitrakis and Anita Rios, Governor and Lt Governor, Independents. All were minor party affiliated, but with no minor party ballot access. They needed and got over 5000 valid signatures each for 2006.
Valid signatures equal to 1% of the votes cast in a district in the previous Gubernatorial election year is required for all independents. That number of valid signatures for OH 1 US Congress was 1,675 valid for 2006. I know, I only got 1200 signatures and did not get on the ballot.
What does an independent do in 2007 and beyond? Does the decison address independent candidates? In my experience, over 80% of voters in Ohio are actual political independents with no political party affiliation of any kind. Rich
It is my understanding that the petitioning requirements did not change for candidates of any type (party candidates or independent candidates).
What changed was the petitioning requirement for political parties. Previously, a “new” party (one without ballot status) had to submit signatures equal to 1% of the last vote for governor or president (which usually worked out to something between 30,000 and 45,000, depending on the election).
That law is now invalid. Some have said that means the signature requirement for a “new” party is now zero. That’s probably true. The Secretary of State is the chief elections officer in Ohio, so she will have to decide what to do in the absence of a valid law.