Independent candidate to challenge BoE signature ruling
Apr. 3—Justin Tjaden, a Geneva-on-the-Lake independent seeking to be on the ballot in the Ohio House 99th District race, plans to challenge a recent decision made by the Geauga County Board of Elections, finding he did not submit enough valid signatures to appear on November's ballot, according to a press release from Tjaden's campaign.
Tjaden submitted 552 signatures to the Geauga County Board of Elections, and of those, 371 were determined to be valid by the Ashtabula and Geauga boards of elections, falling well below the threshold of 495 ballots signatures required to be on the ballot, according to the release. Additionally, the release claims Tjaden was only told about the 495-signature threshold when he submitted his petitions.
"We believe that every signature represents a voter's desire for more choices this November," Tjaden said in the release. "The requirement for independent candidates to gather exponentially more signatures than major-party candidates (who only require 50 signatures), coupled with a wholly subjective verification process that lacks transparency, is a clear disenfranchisement of not just our campaign but of all voters seeking more diverse choices."
The campaign will soon file a legal challenge to the verification process and constitutional issues raised by the treatment of independent candidates compared to candidates representing major parties, according to the release.
"This isn't just about our campaign; it's about protecting the rigths of all independent candidates and, by extension, the rights of all voters to have access to a diverse range of choices," Tjaden said. "We're prepared to take this fight as far as necessary to ensure that our electoral system reflects the values it's supposed to uphold."
According to information from the Ohio Secretary of State's website, major party candidates for state representative or state senator need to collect 50 signatures, candidates for recognized minor parties need to collect 25 signatures, and the number of signatures needed for independent candidates to appear on the ballot varies.
If the number of votes cast in the district in the last general election for governor was fewer than 5,000, candidates need to collect 25 signatures or a number of them equal to five percent of the vote, whichever is less.
If the number of votes in that election is 5,000 or more, independent candidates need to collect a number of signatures equal to one percent of the vote.
If Tjaden's legal challenge is successful, he would join incumbent Republican State Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur and her Democratic challenger Louis Murphy on the November ballot.
