The Green Party and the Libertarian Party of Ohio appear to be on the verge of no longer being recognized as minor parties, based on the results of last week’s vote and a state law from 2013.
However, the Libertarian Party says that law actually protects their status.
Ohio law says minor parties need 3 percent of the vote in a gubernatorial or presidential election to keep their status as a minor party. Libertarian Party spokesman David Jackson says the law applies to parties over a year old, and that law erased his party, which was restored after filing petitions this summer.
So Jackson said the Libertarian Party of Ohio can’t lose its status, and they’ll consider legal action if they do.
“We will take whatever is the proper and necessary action in order for the Secretary of State to read the law at the time that they take the liberty of doing whatever decision that they’re going to do,” he said.
The Libertarian ticket for governor, led by Travis Irvine, got just under 2 percent of the vote. The Green Party candidate Constance Gadell-Newton got just over 1 percent, but Jackson says the 2013 law didn’t erase that party, so they could lose their status.
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