On March 1, the Ohio Libertarian Party filed two lawsuits in state trial court. One attacks the law that says the Ohio Election Commission will never have any members of parties other than the two largest parties. The other lawsuit challenges the failure of the Ohio Election Commission to enforce the law, when the Ohio Debates Commission barred the Libertarian 2018 gubernatorial candidate from debates and didn’t set out any objective criteria for those debates.

The law provides that members of the commission will consist of four members of the largest parties, four members of the second-largest party, and one person who is not a member of any party. Therefore, no member of any other party may ever be a member of the Commission.

On February 28, Arkansas State Senator Trent Garner abandoned his old bill to move the primary, and presented his new bill on the same subject, SB 445. It moves the primary for all office in presidential years from May to the first week in March. It leaves the primary in midterm years in May.

Significantly, SB 445 does not alter the petition deadline formula for newly-qualifing parties. That means that the petition deadline continues to be 60 days before the candidate deadline for filing in primaries. Because the bill moves the primary, that automatically moves the petition deadline, from January of the election year, to November of the year before the election.

Newly-qualifying parties do not nominate by primary, so it is completely irrational to link the date of the primary to that petition deadline.

The Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs passed SB 445 unanimously. Thanks to FrontloadingHQ for this news.

Ballot Access News
February 1, 2019 – Volume 34, Number 9

1. NEW YORK INJURES BALLOT ACCESS
2. LIBERTARIANS SUE ALABAMA OVER LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS
3. BALLOT ACCESS IMPROVEMENT BILLS
4. MONTANA GREEN PARTY LAWSUIT
5. MARYLAND LIBERTARIAN LAWSUIT
6. REPUBLICAN PARTY WINS VIRGINIA CASE
7. DELAWARE BILL HURTS BALLOT ACCESS
8. 2020 PRESIDENTIAL PETITION DEADLINES
9. 2018 VOTE FOR STATE SENATE
10. 2018 VOTE FOR LOWER HOUSE OF STATE LEGISLATURE
11. TWO LEGISLATORS SWITCH PARTIES
12. BREAD & ROSES PARTY QUALIFIES IN MARYLAND
13. LIBERTARIAN PARTY SETS RECORD
14. ERRATA
15. NEW YORK INDEPENDENCE PARTY THREATENED BY PARTY NAME BILLS
16. JILL STEIN WINS A SECOND LAWSUIT ON VOTE-COUNTING MACHINES
17. MANY NEWS SOURCES SAY HOWARD SCHULTZ IS THINKING OF RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AS AN INDEPENDENT
18. SUBSCRIBING TO BAN WITH PAYPAL