Ohio Secretary of State Refuses to Put Ohio Libertarian Party on Ballot

[Jim]

On April 24, the Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) said that she will not put the Ohio Libertarian Party on the ballot this year. Brunner ran on the promise of free, fair and open elections and was elected on that (already broken) promise in November.

Ballot access law has evolved into the easiest way to prevent competition to the two major parties, even from the third largest party in the U.S.

According to their website, the Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the U.S. and they essentially stand for what the Republican party used to stand for. Less government nannyism, lower taxes & and no meddling with freedom.

Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » Ohio Secretary of State Refuses to Put Ohio Libertarian Party on Ballot

The Libertarian Party is distributing a letter to the people of Ohio who wish to see fair and open elections in the state to review, edit and sign to send to their elected officials:

Date
Dear Ohio Rep./Senator X,
As a citizen and Ohio voter, I would like to express my concern with the issue of ballot access for parties other than the Republicans and Democrats. When I say "ballot access", I refer to listing a party's candidates on the ballot with the party affiliation, as the Democrats and Republicans already have.
Currently, the specific law which establishes guidelines for parties to petition for ballot access is not complete (ORC 3517.01). It was struck down by the 6th circuit Court in September 2006.

The Ohio Secretary of State has addressed this topic through decree and set a number at 20,125 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters. To obtain that many valid signatures, we must collect at least 35,000 raw signatures to be able to meet the existing requirements.

The sheer size of the existing requirements is staggering and causes undue burden upon parties such as ours to get candidates on the ballot with a party affiliation. At a time when citizens are staying away from the voting booth, and polls indicate a general frustration with our elected representatives and government, we offer another opportunity to bring them back into the democratic process. This could also help the state with an increased number of poll workers. Can the elected representatives of Ohio take the high road and put the voter and democracy first?

Also note that there was a similar situation in the states of Arkansas and Illinois. In 2006 they also had their laws struck down as unconstitutional. In 2007 they addressed and fixed the situation through their legislatures. We are asking Ohio to do the same.

The Libertarian Party of Ohio has several forward-thinking ideas we would like to see enacted which will enable our party to get our candidates on the ballot throughout Ohio with the Libertarian party affiliation. Kevin Knedler, the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Ohio, would like to meet with you to present an alternative to the present situation. Feel free to contact us at 877-868-3576 or go to our web site at http://www.lpo.org

Thank you.
Regards,
Name & Address (optional phone)