It appears that the Libertarian Party will be unable to place its presidential candidate, Gary Johnson, as an independent candidate on Ohio's general election ballot.

It appears that the Libertarian Party will be unable to place its presidential candidate, Gary Johnson, as an independent candidate on Ohio's general election ballot.

County boards of elections will be unable to certify petition signatures submitted for a "placeholder" candidate, would-be 2014 gubernatorial candidate Charlie Earl, by a key deadline on Monday, according to the office of Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.

Monday is the deadline for the withdrawal and replacement of independent candidates and the needed 5,000 signatures among the 12,000-plus submitted with Earl's name will not be certified in time to meet that deadline, Husted spokesman Joshua Eck said today. Husted has given the elections board until Aug. 19 to complete the certification, several days before the legally mandated deadline.

Asked about Eck's statement, Libertarian Party of Ohio spokesman Aaron Keith Harris said, "They�r e just playing their game." He declined further comment.

The Libertarians submitted their petition forms on Tuesday, saying signatures were gathered with Earl's name beginning in March since Johnson had not yet been nominated and the party was contesting the loss of its minor-party designation in federal court. The party said they planned to withdraw Earl, and substitute Johnson, by Monday's deadline.

A total of 5,000 valid signatures of registered voters are required statewide to become an independent candidate for president. The secretary of state's office has shipped petitions with 42,910 signatures -- the total for all four independent candidates for president -- to county boards, which should receive them on Friday, Eck said.

A spokesman for the Franklin County Board of Elections said it was informed it will receive about 9,100 signatures -- and will not have them certified by the end of the day on Monday.

In a statement Tuesday, Ohio Libertarians said, "As soon as state officials certify the placeholder petition ... the Johnson/Weld campaign will file the paperwork that will be the final step in fulfilling our promise to Ohio voters and to everyone who signed the petition to give them an option to vote for our party�s nominee."

If Johnson does not make the Ohio ballot, it would be the only state in the U.S. in which the former two-term New Mexico governor does not appear as a candidate, party officials said this week. Former two-term Massachussets Gov. William Weld is his running mate.

Ohio was destined to be the only state in which Johnson was not labeled as the Libertarian Party candidate since a law change stripped the Libertarians of its designation as a minor-party. The party has challenged the change in federal courts, but has lost. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is planned, party officials said.

A Quinnipiac University poll released this week gave Johnson 8 percent of the vote among likely voters in Ohio, with Democrat Hillary Clinton at 44 percent, Republican Donald Trump at 42 percent and the Green Party's Jill Stein at 3 percent. Johnson's presence in the race helped Trump by a percentage point or two over Clinton in Ohio, pollsters said.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow