Independent candidate tries to make Ohio ballot

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, is taking an unusual and unprecedented route to the Ohio ballot.

Supporters have filed petitions with the Ohio Secretary of State in Columbus, but the petitions did not carry Johnson’s name.

Instead, the 12,000 petitions contain the name of Charles Earl, the Libertarian’s former candidate for governor.

In a statement posted on the party’s Web site, party organizers said Earl is only a “placeholder” and when his petitions are certified, then he will drop out of the race and Johnson will be put in his place.

Ohio Secretary of State spokesman Joshua Eck told News Center 7 that the office had never seen the maneuver used in a presidential race before in Ohio, although it had been used in some local candidate races.

Libertarian Party spokesman Aaron Keith Harris said, in the statement, “Although this process is complicated, it was the only course available for the Libertarian Party and the Johnson/Weld campaign because of the laws disingenuously passed and arbitrarily enforced by the Republican Party operatives who control Ohio’s elections.”

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