Secretary of State Husted Wants to Limit My Vote Options
From the Libertarian Party of Ohio. Emphasis below is my own.
LPO FILES INJUNCTION IN CASE AGAINST SEC OF STATE HUSTED
18 August 2011
For immediate release:
Earlier this month, The Libertarian Party of Ohio (LPO) sued Ohio Secretary of State Husted in response to the passage of H.B. 194 that goes into effect on September 1, 2011. That bill puts unconstitutional barriers between non-Republican or Democrat candidates and ballot access. In support of that lawsuit, today the LPO has filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Expedited Proceedings and a Memorandum in Support. The motion itself asks that the court allow LPO candidates be allowed on the ballot and that the LPO remain a legal political party in order to protect the its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to freedom of political speech and equal protection under the law. This lawsuit and today's motion demonstrate how H.B. 194 contains language already deemed by the Ohio Supreme Court to be unconstitutional based on its rulings in similar cases over the past few years.
“Limiting ballot access is something that we would expect from Third World dictators and despots, not freely elected officials in the State of Ohio,” said LPO Vice Chair Michael Johnston. “The LPO is certainly not as large as the Republican or Democrat parties, and they want to keep it that way by rigging the game. It's one thing to disagree with us on the issues—that's part of politics—but restricting ballot access through unconstitutional laws is not the American way.”
The main issue is what constitutes reasonable ballot access. The LPO believes that Ohio should use reasonable, attainable standards to determine who can and cannot be on a ballot. While there should be some minimal threshold to get a candidate on the ballot, we should err on the side of easier access rather than limiting it to a well funded and well connected few. Without fair and open access to the ballot, a few, powerful elites will control the means to get elected. We are already close to that point, which is what so much of the Tea Party movement is all about, and the disconnect between elected officials and the general public that people of all political persuasions are upset about.
The Memorandum supporting the Injunction, co-authored by attorneys Gary Sinawski and Mark R. Brown, concludes, "For the foregoing reasons, Defendant should be preliminarily enjoined from enforcing H.B. 194's changes to O.R.C. §§ 3501.01(E) and 3517.01(A)(1), and the LPO should remain qualified for Ohio's 2011 and 2012 election ballots. Defendant should be preliminarily ordered to take all necessary steps to insure that the LPO and its candidates have access to all relevant 2011 elections in Ohio, and have access to all relevant primary and general elections in 2012."
The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. In November of 2010, the Libertarian Party of Ohio fielded more than 45 candidates for office, including the first full slate of candidates for statewide executive office by any alternative party since the Great Depression.
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