On the evening of October 21, the Ohio House passed HB 318-substitute, and Governor John Kasich signed it into law. As a result, Ohio will hold a March primary for U.S. Senate, state legislature, and county partisan office. Also, it will hold a June 12 primary for President and U.S. House.
A little-noticed aspect of the bill also slightly eases presidential primary ballot access. The old law put presidential primary candidates who had qualified for primary season matching funds on the ballot automatically. The new law puts presidential primary candidates on the ballot automatically if they show that they have raised at least $5,000 from each of 20 states. Those qualifications match the existing federal requirements for getting primary season matching funds. This change was made to accomodate presidential primary candidates who choose not to file for primary season matching funds.
In 2008, John McCain had been put on the Ohio Republican presidential primary ballot automatically, because he had applied for federal matching funds. But then, after the FEC had ruled that he was entitled to the funds, McCain said he didn’t want them. Presidential candidates sometimes reject primary season matching funds because candidates who receive them are limited in how much they can spend. Some critics then argued that McCain should not have been permitted to be on the Ohio presidential primary ballot because, by rejecting the funds, he hadn’t truly qualified for them. The situation was ambiguous, and McCain was left on the ballot. But the new law will avoid such situations in the future. Thanks to Frontloading HQ for the news about HB 318 being signed into law.
The effect of this new law is that the statutory petition deadline for new parties remains in November 2011, the same deadline that was held unconstitutional by the 6th circuit in 2006.
ANY ballot access lawyers on Mother Earth capable of detecting —
Separate is NOT equal. Brown v Bd of Ed 1954
Each election is NEW and has ZERO to do with any prior election except the actual number of voters at the last election in the election areas involved. ???
Richard,
Is the petitioning deadline for Presidential candidates still December 7?
Ohio only gives presidential primaries to parties that polled at least 20% of the vote in the last election. But the deadline for members of all qualified parties to run for Congress in a party primary continues to be December 7.
I’m a little confused. The Libertarians didn’t get 20% the last time around. However, on October 8, you wrote that “Anyone running in the Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate, or for President, needs 1,000 signatures. Presidential primary candidates cannot begin to petition until they have chosen a slate of delegates.”
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How will this effect filing deadlines for candidates running for local and federal office?
#4, when I wrote that, I had forgotten that Ohio won’t give presidential primaries to any parties except the Dem and Rep. Parties. I later thanked Jim Riley for pointing this out to me.
#6, the silly bill that just got signed doesn’t advance the primary filing deadlines for candidates for Congress at all, which is ridiculous. They must file in early December even though the US House primary is not until June 12. That’s just one of the many nutty things about the bill. But if the signatures are collected from the districts as they are now, and the district boundaries change, the signatures will still be good.
#7/4 There is a provision (ORC 3513.122) by which “political parties” as opposed to “major political parties” may elected delegates to national conventions.
It says the party must file 105 days before “the” primary. A reasonable interpretation could be that a party could choose which, since there is a provision for holding such elections in odd years, if the party is willing to pay for it.
#7/6 It is confusing. Section 3 says the filing deadline is 90 days before the June 12 primary (March 14?) and that filings made before the effective date of the bill is null and void; but Section 5 says that since the effective date for the legislation is after the December filing deadline, that filings before then based on the enacted boundaries are valid.
For recognized minor parties in Ohio, the candidates need 1/2 as many signatures. 25 for most offices and 500 for US Senate. BUT, the signers must be LP members (via 2010 primary) or non-affiliated residents of Ohio. Title 35 of the Ohio Revised Code. And yes, the petition deadline remains December 7, 2011.
#9 Is the legislative analysis in error?
Richard, if a candidate for President, major party, does not meet the financial requirement for automatic ballot access, what other requirements need to be met, ie how many signatures, must they be registered Republicans or Democrats per party only, and/or a delegate requirement?