THE CONSTITUTION PARTY OF OHIO
HAS FULL BALLOT ACCESS

Ohio’s ballot access regulations are arguably the toughest in the nation and essentially prevent minor political parties from engaging in the most fundamental of political activities –recruiting supporters, selecting a candidate, and placing that candidate on the general election ballot in hopes of winning votes and ultimately, the right to govern.

According to these requirements a new political party would have to submit a petition containing at least 80,000 raw signatures 120 days before a primary to ensure their candidates a spot on the ballot. This requires minor parties to rally support when the election is remote and voters are generally uninterested in the campaign. Once a party surmounts the initial requirement, they must poll at least 5% for their candidate for Governor or President to maintain their ballot access. If they cannot, they must start the process of obtaining tens of thousands of petition signatures over again.

In 2006, the Libertarian Party of Ohio was successful in getting Ohio’s ballot access laws deemed unconstitutional.  The Secretary of State attempted, through directive, to provided a method for minor party registration by reducing the petition signature requirement in half and the deadline by 20 days.

However, in the summer of 2008 a Federal District Court ruled against the Secretary of State.  Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. ordered Jennifer Brunner to place the Libertarian Party of Ohio and its candidates on the 2008 general election ballot.  Citing precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court, the judge ruled that when a state’s ballot access laws have been deemed unconstitutional, a political party that shows a modicum of support is entitled to ballot access.  He stated that, “where a state has unconstitutionally prevented a party or a candidate from accessing the ballot, a court may properly look to available evidence or to matters subject to judicial notice to determine whether there is reason to assume the requisite community support.”  Judge Sargus found that the Libertarian Party has the requisite community support.  Accordingly, he noted that the Constitution gives the Ohio legislature significant discretion to establish election procedures and since the governing body failed to act, the court is required to order that the candidates for the Libertarian Party of Ohio be placed on the ballot.

Until the Ohio legislature moves to remedy those features of Ohio law which were declared unconstitutional, this ruling opened the door for candidates of political parties that can show a modicum of public support to have access to the Ohio ballot.  Accordingly, after collecting more than 11,000 petition signatures and filing a similar legal action, the Constitution party reached agreement with the Secretary of State that recognizes the Constitution Party of Ohio as a minor political party with full ballot access as of September 2008. 

To keep up with news regarding minor party ballot access go to www.ballotaccess.org