1. Have any of the three parties filed a plan for election of party officers under the last paragraph of ORC 3517.03 (which was not changed by SB 193)?

   Since SB 193 is not yet law, the Secretary of State must accept any such plan, as well as any candidate filings for party office.

   The most likely result is that they will get an injunction for 2014 so they should anticipate participating in the primary like normal.

   ps On page 11, they probably should say “disolution” rather than “disillusion”, though perhaps they mean both.

2. Jim, it already is law; that’s why the parties are challenging it in court now.

3. In Ohio, because of the possibility of referendum, a bill does not become law until 90 days after the bill is signed by the governor, unless there is an urgency clause. There was no urgency clause because there was not the required supermajority in the House.

   As the filing makes clear, it leaves potential candidates in limbo. A statewide candidate must have 500 signatures from party members to get on the primary ballot. Because Ohio does not permit voters to change affiliation except at a primary, minor party candidates must gather these from voters who voted in their primary in 2012 (a few 100 voters) or newly registered voters, so it is not a trivial task.

   Would-be candidates for nomination may expend considerable amounts of money and effort preparing to gather signatures and actually gathering signatures for a filing deadline that is a couple of days after the law goes into effect. The SOS would be obligated to accept such a petition, then throw it into the dumpster a day or say later.

   That is why the existing parties will likely get an injunction on due process grounds for 2014.

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