Constitutional Challenge
Following a successful challenge to the unconstitutional ballot access laws with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in 2008, Noble was able to officially mount his candidacy for House of Representatives, Ohio's 15th district.
On 6 June 2008, the Libertarian Party of Ohio, by application of Mark Noble and several Libertarian Party of Ohio colleagues (Kevin Knedler, Bob Barr, Wayne Root, and Margaret Leech) as plaintiffs, filed a suit (Libertarian Party of Ohio v. Brunner) against Ohio Secretary of State claiming that the Secretary of State's refusal to give the Libertarian Party of Ohio access to the November 2008 general electoral ballot deprived the "plaintiffs of speech, voting and associational rights secured by the First and Fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States."
On 21 August 2008, the court found in favor, granting an order for the plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction.
This case established that the Ohio Secretary of State's Directive 2007-09 for the placement of minor party candidates on the state election ballot was unconstitutional.
Victory in this case required the Ohio Secretary of State to list minor party political candidates with party affiliation on the ballot without the strict petitioning requirements of major parties. In the 2008 presidential election this resulted in eight candidates on the ballot for president representing six political parties (along with two independents).
The importance of this case lies in establishing ballot access for all candidates, regardless of party affiliation (and in particular, without favor to the 'big two'). Because each state establishes its own laws on how a candidate may be listed on the ballot, ballot access laws can be regarded as a significant impediment to the open process of democracy. Given Noble's Libertarian focus on constitutionality, the challenge to the Ohio ballot access regulations represents a major ideological event for the Libertarian Party, as well as a practical matter for third-party candidates in Ohio elections.
As a result of the win, the Libertarian Party was allowed on the ballot in Ohio, with party brand. This was only the third time in the history of the Libertarian Party of Ohio that party brand has been on the ballot line.
Read more about this topic: Mark M. Noble
Famous quotes containing the word challenge:
“She might have been old once and now, miraculously, young again—but with the memory of that other life intact. She seemed to know the world down there in the dark hall and beyond for what it was. Yet knowing, she still longed to leave this safe, sunlit place at the top of the house for the challenge there.”
—Paule Marshall (b. 1929)