State Appeals Court Upholds 2013 Ballot Access Law

An Ohio Court of Appeals has upheld the constitutionality of a 2013 state law imposing stiffer criteria for minor political parties to reach and maintain ballot status. The court has upheld last year's decision by a Franklin County judge in a lawsuit stemming from Secretary of State Jon Husted's  role in disqualifying Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Charlie Earl from 2014 ballots. The party argued the law effectively eliminated all minor-party candidates from the 2014 primary and unfairly disadvantaged third parties.