Upcoming Meetings:
Tuesday, August 12, 5:30 PM. Franklin County Green Party Central Committee Meeting. Open business meeting. Location: Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St., Columbus, room 100. (Free parking behind the building in the R spaces for Rardin Health Clinic.)
John Kasich Re-election Protection Act” struck down: Minor parties safe for now
By Bob Fitrakis
In a major victory for Ohio’s four minor political parties, the so-called “John Kasich Re-election Protection Act” was struck down on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The Libertarian, Green, and Constitution Parties had sued to stop the bill that would have banned their Party primaries. The Parties would “suffer irreparable harm” if Senate Bill 193 (SB 193) was enforced by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson wrote in his opinion. Language in SB 193 disbanded the minor parties for not receiving two percent of a statewide vote in the 2012 election, even though there was no such requirement that year.
Senator Bill Seiz (R-Cincinnati) introduced SB 193 the same day the Ohio Libertarians publicly announced their gubernatorial candidate Charlie Earl’s nomination. A recent poll showed John Kasich and his Democratic opponent Ed Fitzgerald each running at 41 percent and Earl attracting 6 percent of the vote, presumably from voters who normally lean toward the conservative Kasich.
This is the fourth straight victory for the Libertarian Party. They previously sued the State of Ohio in 2004, 2008 and 2011 to obtain Party status and to continue ballot access. The Green Party sued successfully to gain official Party recognition in 2008 and also included the then-Constitutional Law Party to be placed on the ballot as part of its agreement with the Ohio Secretary of State.
Judge Watson noted in his opinion that five Libertarian candidates and one Green Party candidate had already filed to run for office in Ohio. All of their petitions would have been nullified on February 5, 2014, the deadline to submit petitions for the Ohio 2014 primary. Although provisions were made in the bill to allow minor parties to collect 28,000 signatures to regain official Party status, it would have been impossible for the Parties to collect that number in a single day.
The result of that provision “…along with other provisions in the bill, is that minor parties must start from scratch to qualify for ballot access. Moreover, S.B. 193 completely eliminates minor parties’ access to the primary ballot,” Judge Watson wrote.
Under Ohio law, the only way to join a political party is to vote for that party in the primary election. Judge Watson wrote that “stripping [the minor parties] of the opportunity to participate in the 2014 primary in these circumstances would be patently unfair.”
The Ohio Libertarian Party received more than one million votes for their Party candidates in 2010. But it would have been impossible for any of their voters or candidates to be actual registered Party members had SB 193 gone into effect.
The Ohio Green Party, which had two elected public officials in 2013 including a Cleveland City Council member, would not be allowed to be label candidates as Greens in the 2014 election cycle.
Judge Watson found that “…the present record supports a finding that the LPO [Libertarian Party of Ohio] as well as the OGP [Ohio Green Party], CPO [Constitution Party of Ohio] and Socialist Party possess significant community support.”
Judge Watson based his opinion on the fact that the State of Ohio “retroactively” applied Senate Bill 193 to Ohio’s 2014 primary and general election destroying the Parties and their candidates who were office or gathering petitions to file as candidates.
Watson said, “The Ohio legislature moved the proverbial goalpost in the midst of the game.”
-------------------
Bob Fitrakis is Co-Chair of the Ohio Green Party and was a Plaintiff in the lawsuit.
About Us - Our History
The Franklin County Green Party is an affiliate of the Ohio Green Party and the United States Green Party. Greens in central Ohio have met regularly, held events, endorsed candidates, and been involved in local activities for many years. The following is a background on the Green Party in central Ohio.
The Central Ohio Greens endorsed a few candidates for local offices in 2001 and again in 2003. After the 2004 Ohio presidential election, the national Green Party, along with the Libertarian Party, challenged the election results by forcing a recount of the votes in Ohio. Local Greens have worked on election reform issues and as election protection activities every year since that controversial election.
In 2006, Bob Fitrakis of Franklin County ran as an endorsed Green candidate for Ohio governor. In 2008, Fitrakis sued the Ohio Secretary of State on behalf of the Green Party to place the name of Cynthia McKinney on the presidential ballot in Ohio under the name of the Green Party – the first time in history the Green Party appeared on the ballot in the state. This established the Ohio Green Party as an official party in Ohio. The Franklin County Green Party was established in Ohio as an official county party in March 201 Fitrakis also ran for U.S. Congress, Third district, in 2012.
Franklin County Green Party Members at the Art Fest
Left to right: Bob Fitrakis, Suzanne Patzer, Tom Burgess, Stephen Johnson.
Green Party endorses public financing and end to the Nationwide Arena tax bailout in Columbus
The Franklin County Green Party seeks to run Green Party endorsed candidates for state and local office and support local citizen initiatives in order to advance the ten key values of our Party’s platform.
Current Franklin County Green Party activities:
Monthly meetings: Third Thursdays, 6:30pm, at the Northwood–High Building, 2231 N. High St. Suite 100 (address) Open to all.
Earth Day: Annual clean-up at Tuttle Park every year for Earth Day.
Pride parade: March in support of GLBT rights in the annual Stonewall Pride parade each June.
Community Festival: The Franklin County Greens had a voter registration booth at Comfest in 2012 and will pursue a festival booth there each summer.
Anti-Fracking Lobby Day - 2013:
May Day - May 1, 2013 - Supporting Workers' Rights/Immigrant Rights/LGBT Rights/Women's Rights
Hot Times: The Franklin County Greens had a voter registration booth at the Hot Times festival in 2012 and will pursue a festival booth there each summer.
Election Protection: Each year at election time, the Franklin County Greens organize election protection activities and investigations into the board of elections policies, voting machine companies, and voter suppression tactics.