Certified candidates for March 17th primary ballot - From Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose

SECRETARY OF STATE ANNOUNCES

CERTIFICATION OF OFFICIAL BALLOTS FOR THE
2020 OHIO PRIMARY ELECTION
COLUMBUS – Today, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced the
certification of candidates for the 2020 Ohio Presidential Primary.

The following Democratic candidates are certified to appear on the

March 17, 2020 primary ballot:

Michael Bennet
Joseph R. Biden
Michael Bloomberg
Cory Booker
Pete Buttigieg
Tulsi Gabbard
Amy Klobuchar
Deval Patrick
Bernie Sanders
Tom Steyer
Elizabeth Warren

The following Democratic candidate is certified to receive write-in votes on

the March 17, 2020 primary ballot:

Andrew Yang

The following Republican candidate is certified to appear on the March 17,

2020 primary ballot:

Donald J. Trump

Candidates who filed and did not meet the necessary requirements to appear
on the ballot:

Error! Filename not specified.

Andrew Yang
On January 6, 2020, Mr. James Moore withdrew his declaration of candidacy as a
delegate-at-large for Mr. Yang to the 2020 Democratic Party National Convention.
As had been previously reported, Mr. Yang’s petitions failed to comply with R.C.
3513.09 which the Supreme Court has held requires strict compliance. Also, on
January 6, 2020, Mr. Yang filed declarations of intent to be write-in candidates and
declaration of candidacies for Mary Jo Kilroy and Holly Polling as delegates-at-large
for Mr. Yang with the Secretary of State’s office.

From a unanimous Ohio Supreme Court opinion: “Relator filed only one declaration
of candidacy and petition paper, attaching to it three additional petition papers that
did not contain a declaration of candidacy. Relator argues in favor of construing the
four petition papers to be a single, "separate petition paper" under R.C. 3513.09.
However, such a construction, although possible, would permit the evils that R.C.
3513.09 seems clearly intended to prevent: (1) lack of clear notice to signers, and
(2) creation of petitions which could be used for some candidacy other than that
intended by the signers.” State ex rel. Wilson v. Hisrich, 69 Ohio St. 3d 13, 15 (1994)
(Per Curiam).

Error! Filename not specified.

John Delaney
Olivia Hamilton filed as a delegate-at-large for Mr. Delaney. The candidate filed the
required originals of Form 2-N, 2-R, and 2-S. However, the candidate failed to
comply with R.C. 3513.09, which requires that each part-petition include a copy of
the Declaration of Candidacy. The declaration of candidacy must be included in
order to give adequate notice of the candidate’s identity to electors and to prevent
the petition from being used for a candidacy other than the one intended by the
signers.

Because the Declaration of Candidacy was not included in the majority of the
delegate’s part-petitions, most of the delegate’s part-petitions were invalid, leaving
the delegate with fewer than 1,000 valid signatures from qualified electors.

From a unanimous Ohio Supreme Court opinion: “Relator filed only one declaration
of candidacy and petition paper, attaching to it three additional petition papers that
did not contain a declaration of candidacy. Relator argues in favor of construing the
four petition papers to be a single, "separate petition paper" under R.C. 3513.09.
However, such a construction, although possible, would permit the evils that R.C.
3513.09 seems clearly intended to prevent: (1) lack of clear notice to signers, and
(2) creation of petitions which could be used for some candidacy other than that
intended by the signers.” State ex rel. Wilson v. Hisrich, 69 Ohio St. 3d 13, 15 (1994)
(Per Curiam).

Error! Filename not specified.

Bill Weld
Bill Weld’s filing lacks both a list of authorized delegates as well as the consent for
any delegates to use his name.

Regarding the first issue, on Form 1-C, the candidate states, “I, Bill Weld, a
candidate for President of the United States, state the following is my list of
approved delegates and alternates who have been selected in accordance with the
rules of the Republican Party State Central Committee.” It also states, “I hereby
authorize and give my consent to the following persons to use my name in their
Declarations of Candidacy as delegates and alternates to the Republican National
Convention as their First Choice for the Presidency…”. However, the filing contains
no list of approved delegates and alternates that must be part of 1-C. A list of
candidates for district delegate and alternate to the national convention is
specifically required by R.C. 3513.121, and sheets for the list were provided on
pages 2 to 4 of Form 1-C, which were not included in the filing. Omitting the list of
delegates, which are three of the four pages in Form 1-C, is a substantial failure to
comply with the law.

Secondly, Bill Weld did not file the required form (either Form 2-S or 2-U) to indicate
his consent for delegates to name him as second choice for the presidency. The
candidate’s written consent is required by both the Ohio Constitution and the Ohio
Revised Code. Bill Weld’s failure to include the Form 2-S or 2-U means the delegate
candidates do not have his written consent or authority to name him second choice
for the presidency.

Error! Filename not specified.

Today, directive 2020-01 will be transmitted to Ohio’s boards of elections which will
provide the official list of candidates that will appear on the presidential primary
ballot.

Key Dates of 2020:

January 31: Military and Overseas voting begins

February 18: Deadline for Ohioans to register to vote in order to vote in the
presidential primary

February 19: Early voting begins in Ohio

March 17: Presidential primary election day