In good news for Gov. John Kasich, a Libertarian gubernatorial candidate was ruled off the ballot today.

In good news for Gov. John Kasich, a Libertarian gubernatorial candidate was ruled off the ballot today.



Secretary of State Jon Husted accepted the recommendations of a hearing officer saying professional signature gatherers hired by the party should have listed the Libertarians as their employer on the petitions and petitions were gathered contrary to state law. That means that Libertarian Charles R. Earl and running mate Sherry L. Clark are off the ballot. So is attorney general candidate Steven R. Linnabary.



Mark Brown, attorney for the Libertarian Party, said he would file an appeal in federal court tonight.



�We�re going to argue under the First Amendment that the employer statute is unconstitutional, and we�ll also argue under the 14th amendment of equal access,� Brown said. � Secretary Husted changed the rules in the midst of the game once again, and you can�t do that either.�



The Libertarians have already successfully won two preliminary injunctions in federal court during the 2014 election cycle; one preventing Husted from enforcing residency requirements for petition circulators and the other preventing him from enforcing a bill that would have it made very difficult for minor party candidates to make the ballot.



Both of those laws were passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Kasich; some Republicans were worried that Earl would draw votes from Kasich.



Husted, who like Kasich is a Republican, based his ruling on the recommendation of former Federal Election Commission member Brad Smith, who presided over a protest hearing this week.



Earl, who is in Columbus for the Libertarians� state convention this weekend and is supposed to give the keynote address, said �on the face of it, the way the law is written, I can�t disagree� with Husted�s ruling. But Earl said he would let attorneys challenge the ruling in court and �I�ll know in a week or so if I�m going to go back and plant a garden this spring.�



jvardon@dispatch.com