Law Professor Mark Brown has this op-ed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, on the subject of Ohio’s faulty system for checking the validity of signatures on ballot access petitions.
His op-ed does not mention that Ohio is one of only three states this year with no minor party or independent candidates on the ballot for statewide office (for the states that have no statewide offices up this year, this comparison uses U.S. House).
For a few months, Ohio has had an independent state representative, Shayla Davis. She was appointed to the seat earlier this year. On August 9, the Secretary of State removed her from the November ballot. He ruled that she isn’t a true independent, because she has been too closely associated with the Democratic Party. Otherwise she would have been on the ballot, because her petition was valid.
Ohio law on who can qualify as an independent candidate is hopelessly vague. Ohio does not have registration by party, yet bars independent candidates if they have too much connection to a ballot-qualified party. This often leads to highly arbitrary decisions.
On September 9, a Missouri state trial court issued a ruling that keeps the marijuana statewide initiative on the ballot. Sweeney v Ashcroft. On September 12, the State Court of Appeals affirmed that decision, case no. WD85679. Here is the State Appeals Court decision.
Originally the Missouri county election officials had found the initiative didn’t have enough valid signatures. But then the Secretary of State reviewed the work of the counties, and revalidated enough signatures. Then the challenger had sued the Secretary of State, arguing that the Secretary overstepped his authority. But the court said the Secretary of State is the ultimate decider. The challenger says he will appeal. See this article. Thanks to Ken Bush for the link.
On September 7, a lawsuit was filed in New Mexico state court, challenging the qualifications of the Republican nominee for Attorney General. The lawsuit alleges that the nominee has not lived in the state for the last five years. See this story. Thanks to Steve Snyder for the link.
The Connecticut state trial court judge who is hearing the lawsuit over the true identity of the Independent Party’s gubernatorial nominee says he will rule by the end of next week. See this story. Thanks to Fairvote for the link.
