Party affiliations off Ohio judicial ballots

Ohio voters will not see the party affiliations of judicial candidates next election, a federal judge ruled.

Judge Susan Dlott of U.S. District Court in Cincinnati rejected a request to allow judicial candidates to identify their party affiliates and to personally solicit campaign contributions, according to Cincinnati.com. The lawsuit claims the restrictions on the candidates are unconstitutional.

But Dlott determined the plaintiffs “have not, at this early stage of the litigation, put forth evidence to demonstrate that prohibiting a political-party designation next to judicial candidates’ names on the general-election ballot constitutes a ‘severe’ restriction on plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” according to The Columbus Dispatch.

“There is no demonstrated need for expediency in this case,” Dlott wrote. “It is in the public interest that the court maintain the status quo until such time as it becomes clear, through the normal course of discovery and argument, whether the statute violates the constitutional rights of judicial candidates, voters, and the political parties.”