On May 20, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson, a Bush Jr. appointee, ruled against the Libertarian Party of Ohio in the last remaining claim in the party’s ballot access claim, which had been filed in 2013. Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, s.d., 2:13cv-953. That last remaining claim was the party’s contention that in 2014, when the state removed the party’s gubernatorial nominee from the primary ballot, that was selective enforcement. The law, requiring petitioners to list their employer on each petition sheet, had never before been enforced.

The 17-page opinion says that the party did not prove that the state intended to discriminate against it. The order says that much of the evidence submitted by the party doesn’t refer to state actors, just to private parties, such as officials of the John Kasich re-election campaign.