On September 20, several organizations filed a federal lawsuit against the new Ohio law that makes it illegal for out-of-state circulators to work in Ohio. The case is Citizens in Charge v Husted, southern district, 13cv-935.

In 2008, the Sixth Circuit had struck down Ohio’s ban on out-of-state circulators, in a case filed by Ralph Nader. Ohio election officials then started permitting out-of-state circulators for all types of petition. But this year, the legislature passed SB 47, which, among other things, bans out-of-state circulators for all kinds of petition except independent presidential petitions.

Before 2008, the Ohio ban only applied to ballot measure petitions, recall petitions, and candidate petitions. There was never a ban on out-of-state circulators for petitions for newly-qualifying parties until 2013.

The Ohio legislature’s action in 2013 is reminscent of the behavior of the Arizona legislature in 2009. In 2008, in another case won by Ralph Nader, the Arizona ban on out-of-state circulators was struck down. So the Arizona legislature passed a bill repealing the ban but only for independent presidential petitions. The following year, the Arizona legislature thought better of that idea, and passed a bill repealing the ban for all types of petition.

When states try to defend bans on out-of-state circulators, they usually argue that out-of-state circulators might commit forgery and if they do the state will have trouble prosecuting them. But when a legislature passes a law saying that some kinds of petition can be circulated by out-of-staters, but other types of petition can’t be, the normal defense of such laws is very difficult to make. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the news about the lawsuit.