Gary Johnson

In this Sept 23, 2011 file photo, Libertarian Party presidential nominee and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson speaks in Orlando, Fla. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted ruled Monday that Ohio Libertarians can swap in Johnson's name on petitions to run him as an independent candidate.

(AP Photo/Joe Burbank, Pool, File)

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted on Monday gave the green light for Libertarians to swap in presidential nominee Gary Johnson's name as an independent on the November ballot.

Husted's ruling ends questions about whether Ohio Libertarians were legally allowed to insert Johnson's name in place of a temporary candidate, 2014 gubernatorial candidate Charlie Earl.

Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, isn't on the Ohio ballot yet: county elections officials have until Friday to verify whether at least 5,000 of the 12,000 petition signatures submitted are valid.

If Johnson appears on the ballot, he could make a difference in a close race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump -- recent surveys show Johnson polling between 5 percent and 12 percent in Ohio, a key swing state.

In its ruling, Husted's office wrote that Ohio law doesn't specifically say whether a presidential candidate can be swapped out for another, especially when petition signatures haven't yet been verified. Monday is the deadline to certify replacements for candidates who have withdrawn or were disqualified from running in November.

But, the ruling concluded, "The law being unclear, Secretary Husted believes the spirit of ballot access should prevail" and that Johnson can replace Earl on the ballot.

Johnson has to run as an independent in Ohio because the state party lost recognition after Republican lawmakers changed state ballot-access rules in 2013.

Libertarians said they listed Earl's name as a placeholder because they started collecting signatures before Johnson was officially nominated as their party's presidential nominee. There was also concern that if Ohio Libertarians win a long-shot lawsuit attempting to regain state recognition as a party, Johnson would run into legal trouble if he ran as both a Libertarian and as an independent.

Earl, a former state representative from Bowling Green, said Friday that it "would be a devastating blow" if Husted wouldn't let him withdraw from the race in favor of Johnson. He said that Ohio Libertarians swapped out presidential candidates in 1996 and 2004 without incident.

Here's the full ruling from the Ohio secretary of state's office: