Secretary of State BlacKKKwell gives Deb Pryce a hand

[Schmajo]

7/15/06
http://www.dispatch.com/news/news.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/15/20060715-E1-03.html

“A former Republican primary challenger can’t run against U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce as an independent candidate this fall, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell ruled yesterday.

Charles R. Morrison II, a conservative businessman who Republicans feared would steer votes away from Pryce in an already tight race against Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy, doesn’t meet Ohio’s requirements for independents because of his GOP ties, Blackwell said.
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Blackwell’s ruling runs counter to one that he benefited from in 1984 when he was a candidate for Congress. He filed that year to run as a Republican, even though he voted as a Democrat in the 1980 primary election.

The Hamilton County Board of Elections tied on whether Blackwell could run, and Democrat Sherrod Brown, the secretary of state at the time, ruled in Blackwell’s favor, allowing him on the ballot for a primary race that he lost.

Blackwell also certified Robert Fitrakis as an independent candidate for governor this year, even though elections records show that Fitrakis, like Morrison, voted in the Republican primary the day after filing as an independent. No one has challenged Fitrakis’ candidacy.
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[Schmajo]

1. Morrison files suit

7/30/06
http://www.dispatch.com/news/news.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/30/20060730-B6-01.html

“Charles R. Morrison II, a conservative businessman, on Friday filed a federal lawsuit demanding that his name be placed on the Nov. 7 ballot in central Ohio’s 15 th Congressional District.

Morrison has asked the U.S. District Court in Columbus to overturn a July 14 ruling by Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell that kept him from running as an independent against incumbent Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce and Democratic challenger Mary Jo Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner.
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Blackwell cited a state law that requires independent candidates to have no affiliation with a party. The day after he submitted his nomination papers as an independent, Morrison voted in the May 2 primary election as a Republican.
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In his lawsuit, Morrison claims that the state law is vague and "affords unbridled discretion" for election boards to determine who qualifies for the ballot as an independent candidate. He said that the law was used ‘selectively and discriminatorily’ to keep him off the ballot, violating his due process and First Amendment rights.”