The ACLU in many states has been a strong proponent of tolerant ballot access for minor parties and independent candidates. The ACLU litigates on behalf of ballot access, and to a somewhat lesser extent lobbies for better ballot access. However, the ACLU has not handled any minor party or independent ballot access constitutional lawsuits in Ohio during the last 30 years, nor has it been active lobbying in the Ohio legislature on this issue in the past few decades.

However, the Ohio ACLU will send a representative to the October 8 hearing in the State Senate Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, when that committee again hears SB 193. The ACLU representative is expected to testify that changing the ballot access requirements at this point in the 2014 petitioning cycle violates fairness and due process. Thanks to Kevin Knedler for this news.

On October 7, the U.S. Supreme Court revealed that it will not hear Corsi v Ohio Election Commission, 12-1442. The Ohio state courts had upheld a decision of the Commission that Edmund Corsi must file campaign finance reports, because he blogs about politics and is associated with at least one other individual. Corsi mostly blogs about other things, but he frequently blogs about elected officials in local government in his part of Ohio.

On October 3, the Georgia Constitution Party and the Georgia Green Party filed this final brief in Green Party of Georgia v State, 13-11816. The issue is the constitutionality of Georgia’s procedures for minor party and independent presidential candidates to get on the ballot. No one has successfully completed this procedure since 2000. The only other state in which no one has completed the procedure to get on the ballot for President in any of the last three presidential elections is Indiana.