On October 18, the Ohio Supreme Court voted 4-3 to place independent candidate Darrita Davis on the Akron, Ohio ballot for City Council. The election is November 5, 2013, and the ballots will now be reprinted to include her. She petitioned as an independent candidate. Her petition was valid but she was still kept off the ballot by the Board of Elections because she had voted in the March 2012 Democratic primary, and in April 2013 had bought a ticket to a Democratic Party event that cost $25, and in June 2013 she had bought a ticket to another Democratic Party event that cost $20.
Ohio law is very vague, on who can qualify as an independent candidate. The law says an independent candidate must be any candidate “who does not consider himself affiliated with a political party.” Ohio does not ask voters to choose a party, or independent status, on voter registration forms. As the majority decision says, “One cannot register with the Secretary of State’s office as an independent.”
Here is the decision, which is State ex rel Davis v Summit County Board of Elections, 2013-4616. The majority opinion is 9 pages. One dissent follows which is two pages, and then another dissent, which is only one page.
The Ohio Supreme Court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have both been very good on ballot access for the last few years.
Will the Akron troopers fighting the BARBARIANS in Asia and elsewhere get their ballots on time and get them back on time ???
i.e. How soon before stuff has to be filed at least 1 year or more before an election to allow for nonstop court cases ???
Texas has a much better system for determining party affiliation – you don’t have any before the election, nor after the election.
As the majority noted, in Ohio there is a different standard for voters signing petitions, and running for office. If Darrita Davis had met an independent candidate running for one of the at-large council seats, Davis could not sign the independent candidate’s petition since she would be considered a Democrat based on her March 2012 vote. There is no disaffiliation ritual for voters, other than not voting in a primary or voting in a different party’s primary.
And of course Akron would be better to switch to non-partisan city elections,