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Thread: Ohio's third parties face higher hurdles Kasich signs rules into law hours before deadline

  1. #1

    Ohio's third parties face higher hurdles Kasich signs rules into law hours before deadline

    Gotta get rid of the competition, don't ya know...only room for two wings on this bird.

    COLUMBUS — Third parties will have to gather tens of thousands of signatures to get on Ohio’s ballot in 2014 now that Gov. John Kasich has signed a bill hours after it passed the General Assembly on Wednesday despite Libertarians’ complaints that the bill unfairly sets them up for “perpetual petitioning.”

    Ohio’s rules for so-called minor parties were declared unconstitutional in 2006. Since then, Ohio’s secretary of state has simply allowed third parties to be on the ballot. Opponents say Republicans are pushing through the new rules in an attempt to protect Kasich from losing conservative votes to third parties in his 2014 re-election bid.
    The bill was set to pass both chambers last week, after reluctance from some GOP House members led leaders to water down the proposed rules. But an inadvertent mistake in the bill’s drafting derailed that effort. On Wednesday, when a committee of six lawmakers met to reconcile House and Senate versions of the bill, they agreed to stricter requirements for minor parties, voting 4-2 on party lines. The Senate and House then passed the bill, with Democrats and a handful of Republicans dissenting.
    Under the new law, minority parties wanting to register for the 2014 election would have to get signatures equal to 0.5 percent of the total votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial or presidential election — about 28,000 signatures for 2014. They’d then have to earn 2 percent of the vote in the 2014 gubernatorial election to continue to be a party for the next four years. Otherwise, they’d have to start the initial signature effort again.
    Starting in 2015, parties would have to get signatures equal to 1 percent of the votes in the most recent gubernatorial or presidential election. They’d have to get 3 percent of the vote in the next election to remain a party.
    Because Kasich signed the bill Wednesday, it will take effect in time for the filing deadline for the 2014 primary. Democrats on Wednesday called on Kasich to delay the signing, saying that would show the bill wasn’t a partisan effort to help with his re-election campaign. The governor announced his signing of the bill in a brief news release without further comment.

    Regardless, Libertarians say they plan to sue this week to challenge the new law.....(more)

    http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/...higher-hurdles
    "Sorry, fellows, the rebellion is off. We couldn't get a rebellion permit."



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  3. #2
    Good. $#@! the LP.

  4. #3
    Disfranchisement huh? Sigh. I wonder if we need to start a list of these shenanigans.

    Shouldn't have much of a problem getting signatures but will certainly interrupt campaign work.
    Last edited by Natural Citizen; 11-08-2013 at 02:48 AM.

  5. #4
    Bump for the morning crowd.

    Remember, folks. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will. And again, it appears that the GOP is writing the rules as they go along to suppress what demand there is. Nothing new. Maybe a few new faces there and about but the phenomenon is quite old, actually.
    Last edited by Natural Citizen; 11-08-2013 at 07:04 AM.

  6. #5
    28,000 signatures seems reasonable. If you call yourself a political party, but do not have the manpower to go out and get 28,000 signatures in a state with an adult population of close to 9 million people, then how can you expect to be competitive in a state wide race. I am all for having options on the ballot, but there has to be some sort of qualifications so that every Tom, Dick or Harry can't get on the ballot.

    If the LP is truly the largest minor party in the country as they claim, then surely they can get their activists together to collect signatures. Heck they should be able to reach that number solely by direct mail to their party members.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptLouAlbano View Post
    28,000 signatures seems reasonable. If you call yourself a political party, but do not have the manpower to go out and get 28,000 signatures in a state with an adult population of close to 9 million people, then how can you expect to be competitive in a state wide race. I am all for having options on the ballot, but there has to be some sort of qualifications so that every Tom, Dick or Harry can't get on the ballot.

    If the LP is truly the largest minor party in the country as they claim, then surely they can get their activists together to collect signatures. Heck they should be able to reach that number solely by direct mail to their party members.
    I don't see any problem getting sigs either. Also, in this particular case, the candidate has already made it publically clear that he's not on any Democratic payroll. Depends on the states themselves when it comes to these things as I'm sure you know. Some won't be disenfranchised and others will be. Just depends upon what they're worth to the big dogs.

    As I've said before though I think we'll see a much larger turnout as a whole during the coming cycles and so any campaigning won't even be hindered as much as many of the talking heads seem to want to say. The Virginia turnout confirmed it for me. Heck, I called that one before it even happened.

    I don't agree with the skullduggery here but may serve to put a gauge on the demograph should it be determined that they are a larger and more active group by the time 2016 rolls up.

    Beyond all of that though, people have the right to vote with their conscience. It's unconstitutional to make some rule that says thay can't.
    Last edited by Natural Citizen; 11-08-2013 at 07:42 AM.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Tod View Post
    Gotta get rid of the competition, don't ya know...only room for two wings on this bird.

    http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/...higher-hurdles
    Collect 28,000 signatures. No big deal.
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  9. #8
    Back when I was in the LP, OH was always one of the states that required extra attention just like OK, PA and a few others that come to mind. So, this is fairly routine in the overall scheme of things.



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  11. #9
    Update regarding voter disfranchisement in Ohio.

    Libertarians file legal challenge against Ohio's new rules for minor political parties; Greens may follow suit

    "John Kasich and the Republicans in the General Assembly have overtly violated both the federal and Ohio constitutions by limiting democratic participation and choice for every Ohioan," Libertarian Party of Ohio Central Committee Chairman Aaron Keith Harris said in a statement. "SB 193 is their way of running from a fight that they simply can't afford to have."
    Last edited by Natural Citizen; 11-12-2013 at 02:38 AM.



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