COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has announced a write-in campaign in Ohio for the presidential primary after his application to appear on the ballot was denied over a procedural problem.
Yang, one of the 14 Democrats vying for the 2020 presidential nominee, failed to meet the qualifications for the Ohio ballot, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in a statement Saturday. The Ohio primary is March 17.
Ohio's law requires campaigns to gather signatures on part-petitions, a document that includes three components: who the part-petition is for, the signatures, and a statement from the person who gathered the signatures. This makes sure signers are not signing a petition under false pretenses.
Yang's campaign did not include with its form a statement from the candidate stating their intention to run, LaRose said in a statement.
"I'm duty-bound to follow the law, and the law is clear _ when Ohioans sign a petition they deserve to know what they are signing," LaRose said in a statement. "This is why petition forms must be submitted complete with a statement from the candidate stating their intention to run. ... I sincerely sympathize with those who hoped to support his candidacy in the Ohio presidential primary _ it's truly unfortunate that the Yang campaign has let them down."
Yang, however, said he is still going forward with his campaign.
"My campaign submitted nearly three times the amount of signatures needed, virtually ensuring I would be on the ballot in Ohio," Yang's campaign said in a statement. "Nevertheless, because of a bureaucratic paperwork issue caused by an awkwardly worded law, nearly 3,000 Ohioans' First Amendment rights have been denied."
Former U.S. Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, a Democrat, has not endorsed Yang but supports his write-in efforts.
"I want to defeat Trump, and I believe that the best way to do that is to have a vigorous contest of ideas in the Democratic primaries, including the Ohio primary," Kilroy said in a statement.
