LPO Testifies Before House and Senate Committees On Voters Rights

Taken directly from the Libertarian Party of Ohio web site in the hope of spreading the message.

Since the Libertarian Party of Ohio sued the state and won in 2006, Ohio has been without any legal means for a political party to obtain access to the ballot.

In 2008, at an unfortunate great cost to the state, four political parties sued in federal court to have their Creator-endowed First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Freedom of Assembly and Equal Treatment Under the Law upheld. In a victory for hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters, our 2008 case was successful, but litigation does not create new statutory law.

Ballot access efforts, particularly petitioning, do not come cheap. “The LPO has spent a great deal of effort on ballot access efforts including petitioning and making presentations to the legislature in the last few years,” noted Johnston. “And the expenses were minimized as much as possible by hundreds of volunteer hours of work, but costs for ballot access are still thousands of dollars.” Ballot access costs included the petitioning to place the first full statewide executive slate for a minor party since 1934 onto the 2010 ballot. Volunteers have also taken days off their paid employment to visit the Statehouse to stand up for the rights of all Ohioans

In 2007, then-LPO Chair Robert Butler testified on behalf of LP members in front of the General Assembly in favor of free elections. Since 2007, the LPO has regularly sent Chair Kevin Knedler, current Vice Chair Michael Johnston, and others down to the Statehouse to meet legislators, either individually or in small groups. Over those years, we have built positive relationships with representatives and senators of both political parties who favor common sense laws for ballot access.
Wednesday and Thursday, Johnston and LPO Executive Committee member Bob Bridges travelled to the Statehouse to continue educating sitting legislators about the importance of fair, free, and open elections. Johnston testified before the Ohio House’s State Government and Elections Committee yesterday regarding House Bill 194 and this morning before the Ohio Senate’s Government Oversight and Reform Committee about Senate Bill 148.

Some lawmakers seemed receptive while others appeared more hesitant to allow other political parties to participate in the political process, said Johnston. “In a time when the United States is spending blood and treasure to spread free elections and democracy in the Middle East, the easiest thing in the world to do should be to spread it here in Ohio. The first national election in Iraq had numerous political parties on the ballot. Yet despite the successful election in a nation unused to partisan politics, some Ohio legislators seem to think that we cannot handle even three.”

The LPO asked the General Assembly to include ballot petitioning standards, ballot retention reform, and inclusion of independent and minor party members on Boards of Election and as poll workers. “Ohio has been run by a duopoly without competition for so long that most voters can’t even remember participating in an open election prior to 2008,” said Knedler. “I look forward to an election process in Ohio that includes a true free market exchange of ideas.”

Special thanks to Senator Faber for allowing photography of the testimony before the Senate Committee, and thanks Senator Faber and Representative Mecklenborg for allowing the Libertarian Party of Ohio to testify to their respective committees on this important issue.

For information on how to contribute to, join, and participate in the Libertarian Party of Ohio please visit our website at www.LPO.org, join your local LP Meetup Group, or “Like” us on Facebook and network directly with party leaders from around the state.

In addition to speaking, the LPO also provided written testimony to both committees. Please view the PDFs of our presentation and suggested amendment language. When reviewing our suggested changes, normal text is existing law, underlined text is recommended additions, and struck through text is existing law that we recommend removing/changing.