On February 23, the Ohio Libertarian Party held a statewide nominating convention. The party nominated candidates for presidential elector, four candidates for U.S. House, three for State House, and one for State Senate.

The party will submit a petition to the Secretary of State in the next week, in advance of the Ohio primary set for March 4, and ask to be recognized as a qualified party. The old Ohio petition procedure was declared unconstitutional by the 6th Circuit in September 2006, and the legislature has not passed a new law to replace it. Under a 6th circuit precedent from 1984, called Goldman-Frankie v Austin (a Michigan case), when a state’s ballot access has been declared unconstitutional and the legislature has not passed a new law, state officials must place any party or any candidate on the November ballot if that party or that candidate can show a modicum of support.

The Ohio Secretary of State in 2007 had responded to the gap in the Ohio law by saying she would place any group on the ballot as a party if it submitted 20,114 valid signatures by late November 2007. The Ohio Libertarian Party will try to persuade the Secretary of State to recognize it, even though it did not meet her conditions. If that does not succeed, the party will probably file a new lawsuit, arguing that it has shown a modicum of support and that under the Goldman-Frankie precedent, that is sufficient.

Ralph Nader’s February 24 announcement that he will run for president as an independent in 2008 has received extensive coverage, but that coverage is of poor quality. See this article as an example. To see the appearance itself, see here. To read the transcript, see here.

The real news is that Nader is not seeking the Green Party nomination. That decision will delay his ability to qualify for primary season matching funds. One cannot apply for primary season matching funds unless one says he or she is seeking the nomination of some party that is on the ballot in at least two states. In 2004, Nader said he was seeking the nomination of the Reform Party, and on that basis did receive matching funds. This year, at this point, Nader cannot say he is seeking the nomination of any political party (unless he again says he is seeking the Reform Party nomination, which is most unlikely, given its disarray).

The other problem with media coverage of Nader’s announcement, is that none of it mentions the evidence that his 2004 run did not injure John Kerry. See this. For a more detailed analysis, see here. Yet we have the same old assumptions that Nader will injure the Democrats in 2008, with no look at what actually happened in 2004.

The Arizona petition for a new, or previously unqualified political party, is so difficult, it has not been used since 2000. The law requires 20,449 signatures, due March 6, 2008.

The Green Party of Arizona is making every effort to meet this requirement. Greens from around the U.S. have contributed $8,000, so that the Arizona Greens have been able to hire paid circulators. To increase interest, several of the Green Party presidential candidates are in Arizona on the weekend of February 23-24. On Saturday, February 23, some will be at the famous Scottsdale Parada del Sol, the world’s largest horsedrawn parade, which culminates in a mass outdoor party called “Trail’s End.” On Sunday, February 24, at 1 pm, all of the declared Green presidential candidates will also attend a party meeting at the Mesa Public Library, Saguaro Room. Ironically, these presidential candidates cannot themselves help circulate the petition, since Arizona doesn’t permit out-of-state residents to do that.

The Green Party’s party petition must succeed, if the party’s presidential candidate is to appear on the November ballot. The party cannot use the independent candidate petition procedure because the deadline for that is June 4, and the party won’t have chosen its presidential candidate until July 13. Arizona does not permit stand-in presidential candidates on the independent petition. Vice-presidential substitution is a moot point, since Arizona does not print the names of vice-presidential candidates on its November ballot. Arizona has the nation’s 2nd earliest independent presidential petition; a Nader lawsuit (filed in 2004) against that independent deadline is pending in the 9th circuit.

The Libertarian Party is the only ballot-qualified party in Arizona currently, other than the two major parties. The Constitution Party has never been on the Arizona ballot as a party, and is not attempting to get on as a party this year.