Saturday, January 15, 2000
Ohio to fight ruling letting minor-party tags on ballot
The Associated Press
DAYTON, Ohio — The state this week asked a federal court to block a ruling involving minor-party labels on Ohio ballots from taking effect.
U.S. Magistrate Michael Merz ruled Dec. 14 that an Ohio law allowing the state to prevent minor-party candidates from having their party designations printed on ballots is unconstitutional.
The Ohio Secretary of State's Office filed a motion asking U.S. District Court to put the ruling on hold, pending the outcome of an appeal.
The state said the ruling could disrupt elections in November.
The magistrate made his ruling in a 1998 case involving James Schrader, who ran for Congress in the 7th District as a Libertarian. Mr. Schrader sued the state after then-Secretary of State Bob Taft denied Mr. Schrader's demand that he be designated a Libertarian on the ballot.
Mr. Schrader said denial of ballot labels discriminates against minor-party candidates and potential minor-party voters.
The state said that before being nominated by the Libertarian Party, Mr. Schrader had circulated petitions to obtain ballot access as a nonparty candidate.
The state said nothing would prevent other candidates from circulating petitions with no party label, then insisting on a ballot designation that best expressed the candidates' views, even if those views were in disagreement with the views of petition signers.
The magistrate said denying Mr. Schrader the right to be listed as the Libertarian candidate would have violated his constitutional right to free speech and equal protection under the law.
He said the state has the right to prevent candidates from claiming to represent nonqualified political parties and can regulate labels that are confusingly similar to others on the ballot.
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