AP: Court Says Ohio Too Hard on Some Parties

[Eugene]

Court Says Ohio Too Hard on Some Parties

Thursday, September 7, 2006

(09-07) 10:07 PDT CINCINNATI (AP) --

Ohio's rules for primary elections make it too hard for minor parties
to get on the ballot, a federal appeals court ruled.

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In a 2-1 opinion, a U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals panel Wednesday
that the rules were unnecessarily strict and tougher for small parties
to meet. The court ruled Ohio's rules violate the First Amendment and
have "a negative impact ... on minor parties and on political activity
as a whole in Ohio."

"The practical effect of the state's election law has been to limit
the rights of parties other than the Republican and Democratic Parties
from appearing on the general election ballot," Gibbons wrote.

Ohio's Libertarian Party had appealed a lower court's decision to throw
out its 2004 lawsuit against Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who didn't
allow the party's candidates on the ballot that year because of problems
with petitions.

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Full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/09/07/national/a100744D87.DTL