Ohio Libertarian Party Files Federal Lawsuit on Composition of Ohio Elections Commission

Posted on by June 15, 2019
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Ohio has a state Elections Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the state’s campaign finance laws. The Commission consists of three members of each of the two largest parties, plus one person who is not a member of any party. In 2018, when gubernatorial debates for the general election were set up, the debate sponsors had no neutral criteria for determining who should be invited to the debates. The Libertarian Party, which had a gubernatorial nominee on the ballot, complained to the Ohio Elections Commission, but the Commission refused to act.

Federal law is clear that when corporations sponsor debates, they must have objective criteria. On June 15, the Ohio Libertarian Party filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that (1) the commission is unconstitutionally constituted, because members of minor parties can never be members; (2) that the 2018 gubernatorial general election debates were illegal. Libertarian Party of Ohio v Wilhem, s.d., 2:19cv-2501. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley, a Clinton appointee.

New York Bills to Ease Deadline for Voters to Switch Parties

Posted on by June 15, 2019
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Bills have been introduced in the New York legislature to ease the deadline for voters to join a party, if they wish to vote in that party’s presidential primary. They are A8228 and S6422. Current law says they can’t vote in a presidential primary unless they had joined that party in the previous year. The bills would ease that to early in the current year.

The Assembly bill passed the Assembly Elections Committee on June 12, and was sent to the Assembly Rules Committee.

Florida Sponsors Found for a 2020 Bill to Help Write-in Candidates

Posted on by June 15, 2019
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The Florida legislature has adjourned for this year, but it will meet in 2020. Gary Koniz, a Florida activist who is interested in the write-in process, has found legislators who say they will introduce a bill in 2020 that will help write-in candidates. The proposed bill would provide that the names of declared write-in candidates would be available at the polls, and would also be included in materials associated with sample ballots.

The sponsors are State Senator Aaron Bean and Representative Jason Fischer.

California and Texas are examples of states in which the names of declared write-in candidates are available at the polls.

Arizona Libertarian Party Asks Ninth Circuit for Rehearing in Primary Ballot Access Case

Posted on by June 17, 2019
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On June 14, the Arizona Libertarian Party asked the Ninth Circuit to rehear Arizona Libertarian Party v Hobbs, 17-16491. This is the case in which the original panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld the 2015 election law that requires Libertarians running in the Libertarian primary to submit thousands of signatures of party members in order to get themselves on the primary ballot. The law also allows independent voters to sign such petitions.

The law has had the effect of keeping all Libertarians off the primary ballot (and hence the general election ballot) for congress and partisan state office, ever since it was passed. Meanwhile, the law permits the Green Party to nominate with as few as one write-in vote in the Green primary.