Jeremy Fugleberg

jfugleberg@enquirer.com

The Libertarian Party of Ohio said Monday it will submit a petition to put its candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, on the November ballot.

The party will deliver "many more" than the needed 5,000 signatures to the Ohio secretary of state's office Tuesday afternoon, said Bob Bridges, chairman of the party's executive committee.

Ohio's filing deadline for independent presidential candidates is Wednesday. Johnson would be placed on the Ohio ballot as an independent candidate because the Libertarian Party of Ohio is not a recognized political party in the state. To be considered a major political party, it needed to meet a 3 percent vote threshold in the most recent presidential or gubernatorial election.

"We're still working to restore ballot access from the Libertarian Party here in Ohio, and we're hopeful that the courts will strike down Senate Bill 193 and insist that Ohio lawmakers pass a fair ballot access law for all parties," Bridges said.

Johnson, a former Republican, is running with former Republican Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts. Johnson got 49,493 votes in Ohio in 2012 as the Libertarian Party's candidate, or 0.89 percent of the vote. He earned approximately 1.2 million votes nationwide, or just under 1 percent of the popular vote.