The Ohio legislature is about to go on recess, probably for several months. The legislature still hasn’t passed any bill to replace the old, unconstitutional ballot access law. The decision striking down the old law was in September 2006, so it will have been almost four years that Ohio has been without a valid law.
Ballot access improvements are contained in HB 260 and SB 8, which are very lengthy bills that deal with many election law issues. Those bills are hundreds of pages long, and many people have worked very hard to write those bills, but the consensus is that no such bill will make any headway until after the November 2010 election.
So how long will the minor parties’ status last?
Probably not beyond 2010, because surely the 2011 session of the legislature will pass a bill early in the year.
so close. The House passsed the new ballot access provisions. But, the Senate will not address in Ohio.
So what happens to the people who registered into the minor parties? Does their party remain the same or do they become independents?
The Greens are going to print off all the Greens once that becomes available if and when we have to start petitioning…But that is only ~900 people.