On November 25, the last two briefs were filed in the Sixth Circuit in Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted. Here is the state’s response, and here is the reply to that.
The part of the case in the Sixth Circuit concerns whether the 2013 ballot access law violates the Ohio Constitution. The part of the case about whether the 2014 enforcement of a campaign finance law was enforced in a discriminatory manner is still in U.S. District Court.
“§ 3517.012(A)(1). A new party’s candidate for statewide office must submit a petition signed by at least 50 qualified electors.” This must be after a party gets official status?
A candidate petition can not be filed until after the party petition has been filed. Candidate petitions also have a later deadline.
It appears that the intent is to presume that the party petition is sufficient upon filing, and if it is later determined that the petitions was not sufficient, any candidacies are wiped out.
It is not clear whether signatures can be collected concurrently. The law says that when the party petition is filed, the party comes into legal existence. It would not make sense to sign a petition for a candidate of a party that is not yet in legal existence. But I don’t see a starting date.