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Thursday, November 15, 2018

Ohio Libertarians dispute loss of ballot status

Ohio Libertarians may sue to keep ballot access | cleveland.com - Jeremy Pelzer:

November 13, 2018 - "Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office says that the Libertarians, along with the Ohio Green Party, lost their ballot access because their respective candidates for governor in the Nov. 6 midterm election didn’t get the 3 percent of the vote required under state law to remain a recognized minor party. The Libertarians’ gubernatorial nominee, Columbus activist and filmmaker Travis Irvine, got 1.8 percent of the vote, according to unofficial totals.

"But Ohio Libertarians point to a part of the law (specifically, section 3501.01(F)(2)(b) of the Ohio Revised Code) stating that the '3-percent' requirement is only for minor parties that have been recognized for at least a year before the election. The Libertarian Party of Ohio regained state recognition in July for the first time since 2014, a year after the GOP-controlled legislature passed new ballot-access rules (which the Libertarians tried unsuccessfully to fight in a lengthy court battle).

"Secretary of state spokesman Sam Rossi disputed the Libertarians’ assertion that the '3-percent' requirement doesn’t apply to them.... Rossi also noted that the Libertarian Party of Ohio’s chair, Harold Thomas, claimed the day before the 2018 midterms that Irvine needed 3 percent of the vote to 'automatically achieve 2020 ballot access....

"Rossi declined to comment further, saying the Libertarians are likely to file suit over the matter against Husted’s successor, Republican Frank LaRose.... Indeed, that’s exactly what Libertarian Party of Ohio spokesman David Jackson said his party would do, if they are notified by Husted’s office that they are de-certified as a minor party."

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/politics/2018/11/ohio-libertarians-may-sue-to-keep-ballot-access.html
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