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Ohio Legislature Appeals to Sixth Circuit to Remove Minor Parties from Ballot

Posted on January 12, 2012 by adminJanuary 12, 2012

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley issued an injunction, putting the Ohio Libertarian Party on the ballot. The Ohio Secretary of State did not appeal, but the Ohio legislature then moved to intervene. On December 21, 2011, the Ohio legislature filed a brief in the 6th circuit, arguing that the U.S. District Court should not have put the Libertarian Party on the ballot. The brief also argues that the legislature has standing to intervene, and that its appeal is timely.

The legislature argues that when it passed a new ballot access law in the summer of 2011, that new law was constitutional, and the Libertarian Party should have then commenced to get the required 38,525 signatures, even though at the time no one knew if that law were going to be in effect or not. The uncertainty was caused by the fact that a referendum petition was filed against the new law, preventing it from going into effect. Furthermore, neither the Libertarian Party nor anyone else could possibly have known what the petition deadline would be. The new law said the petition deadline would be 90 days before the primary, but the legislature moved the date of the primary twice during the latter half of 2011. The legislature’s argument is almost laughable. The Ohio Libertarian Party will be filing its response soon. In the meantime, the state is going ahead with preparations for the Libertarian Party primary, and the primary for the other minor parties that were added to the ballot by the Secretary of State because it didn’t make sense for him to put the Libertarian Party on, and not the other minor parties.

Ohio Green Will Try to Poll 500 Write-in Votes in Green Party Primary for U.S. Senate, in Order to Appear on November Ballot

Posted on January 11, 2012 by adminJanuary 11, 2012

In March 2012, Ohio will hold a primary for seven parties. However, except for the Democratic and Republican Parties, no one will appear on any party’s primary ballot for U.S. Senate. Minor party members who might have wanted to run for U.S. Senate in their own party’s primary all were unable to get 500 signatures to appear on the statewide primary ballot, mostly because the deadline was shortened unexpectedly.

However, an Ohio Green, Joseph DeMare, is a declared write-in for the U.S. Senate Green Party nomination. Even though he is running unopposed, he cannot appear on the November 2012 ballot as a Green unless he receives 500 write-in votes on March 6. If he is able to surmount this hurdle, he will be the first minor party candidate for statewide office to ever get enough votes in an Ohio minor party primary to be on the November ballot. See this story.

DeMare had to struggle to persuade the Ohio Secretary of State’s office to accept him as a declared write-in candidate. When the Green Party first asked the Secretary of State’s office about filing as a declared write-in, the office said write-ins are not permitted in primaries for U.S. Senate. The office changed its mind after seeing evidence that there had been past declared write-in candidates for U.S. Senate in Republican and Democratic primaries.

Mitt Romney Spokesperson Publicizes that Most of Romney’s Opponents Have Not Filed Full Delegate Slates in Three States

Posted on January 11, 2012 by adminJanuary 11, 2012

This story in Politico, by Emily Schultheis, reveals that Mitt Romney’s spokesperson Andrea Saul is pointing out that most of Romney’s opponents have failed to file full slates of delegate candidates in Illinois, Ohio, and Tennessee. No mention is made of Ron Paul; presumably Paul, like Romney, did file full slates of delegates in all states in which filing has closed. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.

The Texas Tribune Article Suggests Texas May Need to Postpone April 3 Primary to a Later Date

Posted on January 11, 2012 by adminJanuary 11, 2012

The Texas Tribune has this interesting article about the problem Texas election administrators may have with the April 3 primary date. Texas does not have settled boundaries for U.S. House districts, or state legislative districts. The U.S. Supreme Court, a 3-judge court in Texas, and a 3-judge court in Washington, D.C., are all involved in lawsuits over these districts. If these three courts do not issue opinions within the next three weeks, the primary might need to be postponed. That would have important implications for ballot access. Texas law does not permit petitioning for minor parties or independent candidates until after the primary.

The Texas Tribune is an on-line newspaper about public policy in Texas, and was founded in 2009. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

ACLU Files Amicus Brief in Virginia Ballot Access Case

Posted on January 11, 2012 by adminJanuary 11, 2012

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has filed this amicus brief in Perry v Judd, the case that challenges Virginia ballot access requirements. The ACLU brief makes a case against the Virginia law that bars out-of-state circulators. The ACLU brief does a good job of explaining that if the state wants to subpoena circulators (in case the state believes a circulator may have committed fraud), there is a method to do that, even if the circulator is not a Virginia resident.

The ACLU brief also mentions the most recent decision striking down a law against out-of-state circulators, the Nebraska decision from 2011 called Citizens in Charge v Gale. The other briefs in this case had not mentioned that precedent. The ACLU brief mentions that the Virginia restriction injures the out-of-state petitioners themselves, and that the law injures voters. Commentary about this issue almost never remembers the rights of petitioners who don’t live in Virginia. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.