Two Libertarian candidates were tossed from Ohio’s primary ballot on Friday by Secretary of State Jon Husted in a ruling that sparked immediate plans for a legal challenge. Mr. Husted, a Republican, said he had adopted a hearing officer’s recommendations in disqualifying a candidate for governor, Charlie Earl, and an attorney general candidate, Steven Linnabary. Their nominating petitions were challenged on two grounds: that signature gatherers failed to comply with Ohio laws requiring them to be either Libertarian or a political independent and another requiring them to disclose their employer. Mark Brown, a lawyer for the Libertarian Party of Ohio, said it will challenge the decision in federal court. He said the ballot protests were an extension of Republican efforts to keep third parties off the state’s ballot. Mr. Earl could draw votes from Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, in his re-election bid this fall. The Republican state chairman, Matthew Borges, recently told reporters that the party helped mount the challenge to Mr. Earl’s signatures. Protests asserted that Democrats were involved, managing and carrying out Mr. Earl’s signature-gathering effort.