on March 19, U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Watson ruled that the Ohio law requiring paid circulators to identify their employer on each petition sheet is probably constitutional. Therefore there is no basis to restore the statewide Libertarian candidates to the Libertarian Party primary ballot. The party and its statewide candidates have filed a notice of appeal.

The decision does say, “Evidence in the record supports an inference that operatives or supporters of the Ohio Republican Party orchestrated the protest”, but the decision also says that is not relevant to the constitutionality of the disclosure law. The opinion says that the disclosure requirement is necessary to help prevent petitioning fraud, although the opinion also says there is no reason to think any of the petitions in this matter are fraudulent.

Reason Magazine has this article, describing some of the events in the pending federal lawsuit on whether Libertarian Party statewide candidates should be on the May Libertarian primary ballot. The most interesting part of the story describes the individual who challenged the petitions. According to the story, he appears not to understand his role. He did not seek out any attorneys and it seems he did not even realize that when he signed the challenge form, that he was initiating the challenge process. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the link.

On March 19, U.S. District Court Judge Eric Melgren, a George W. Bush appointee, issued an opinion in Kobach v U.S. Election Assistance. The 28-page opinion determines that Kansas and Arizona are free to require that individuals who use the federal voter registration form must attach documents that prove they are citizens. Specifically, the decision orders the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to amend the federal forms in use in Kansas and Arizona, so that the instructions on the forms used in those states explains to applicants that the paperwork is needed. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.