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Two-party Tyranny in Ohio
September 12,2006On September 6, the Sixth Circuit Court struck-down Ohio’s law restricting minor party ballot access. The law stated that registered voters equaling 1% of those that voted in the last state-wide election must sign a petition requesting ballot access for minor parties. It also stated that petitions must be submitted in what amounts to a full year before major elections.
No third party label has been seen on Ohio ballots for years because the number of signatures (commonly over 30,000) coupled with the outrageous deadline for submission made it nearly impossible to overcome the hurdles to political legitimacy in Ohio.
While this is a positive development, another newsworthy item in Ohio is less heartening. Ohio’s two major-party gubernatorial candidates, Ted Strickland and Ken Blackwell, have successfully conspired to ensure no other candidate for governor shares the stage with them during upcoming state-wide debates.
But, it’s worse than this. We have allowed there to develop an institutional exclusion of dissent in America. Nobody decries this injustice because it has become commonplace over decades. The federal government and most state governments have laws and legislative rules of procedure that grant levels of authority to one majority, and one minority party in power. Congressional committees have 5 majority party and 4 minority party representatives with no space for independents or third parties. Legislative rules of debate grant floor time in only two dimensions and do not allow for other party opinion unless invited by the two largest parties.
The Libertarian Party has led the case for change, helping to finance the recent legal actions. The problem is that this victory is pyrrhic and will cause the Ohio Secretary of State to simply go back and find more creative ways to exclude third parties. Best case scenario is that hundreds-of-thousands of dollars and years of legal wrangling will allow the name “Libertarian” to be used on ballots. So what? While this is a positive step, it does nothing to overcome public acquiescence to major party monopolization of the political process. With such limited financial resources, Libertarians and others are best served by taking their case directly to the people.
PurpleThink proposes a petition drive to enact an Ohio constitutional amendment forbidding any collusion between or among political parties and their candidates for the purpose of excluding political parties and their candidates from public discourse. Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland should not be able to dictate the terms of their public appearances -- forbidding participation from a Libertarian, Green, Constitution, or any other candidate for public office. Once a few brave news outlets start allowing varied perspectives be represented, the public will begin to expect it.
We PurpleThinkers don’t want to see a European-style democracy with coalition building among 30+ political parties. However, at the very least, we feel strong third-party voices can shape public opinion such that Republicans and Democrats will be required to listen. And, where a third-party candidate offers a strong alternative – they should have equal rights to an equal voice in public discourse.
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