Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted acted lawfully in denying the Libertarian Party designation as a political party based on the Nov. 8 election showing of its independent presidential candidate, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled this afternoon.

In a 6-1 decision, the justices denied a request by Libertarian Party members to reverse Husted's finding that the party was not entitled to state recognition since its presidential ticket of Gary Johnson and William Weld appeared as independents on Nov. 8 ballot.

Party members had argued that since their ticket received nearly 3.2 percent of the statewide vote, it was entitled to the reinstatement of its designation as a recognized political party in Ohio.

"Their candidates were nominated as independent candidates without any political-party affiliation," the court's decision said. State laws "permit only established political parties to retain ballot access if they receive at least 3 percent of the vote."

The Libertarian Party lost its political-party status in Ohio after failing to properly nominate a candidate for governor in 2014, depriving it of the 3-percent-plus vote needed to remain a party.

The party turned to the federal courts in a bid to regain its lost status, permitting the Johnson-Weld ticket to be listed as Libertarian on the Nov. 8 ballot, but lost each appeal, including to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justice William M. O'Neill, the lone dissenter and lone Democrat on the court, accused Republican Husted of "circular reasoning."

"Political parties have to start somewhere," he wrote. "Realtors followed the rules that define what constitutes a political party, and now the state's chief elections officer asks this court to twist those rules around to keep the seeds of democracy from sprouting."

Husted spokesman Josh Eck said: "The plaintiffs themselves have argued against the premise of this lawsuit in the past, so today’s ruling should come as no surprise to them. It’s far beyond time for them to stop wasting tax dollars on this issue and just follow the rules."

The Libertarians, or any other group, can become a recognized political party by gathering about 55,000 valid signatures -- the equivalent of 1 percent of the vote cast in the presidential election -- on a party-formation petition.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow