Although it is certainly impossible to prepare for every circumstance, Ohio law is certainly flawed when it comes to the filling of some unexpired terms for elected offices.

That is certainly the case with the process determining who will fill the remaining two years of commissioner Paul Herrell’s term, with a current state law that almost completely excludes third-party candidates.

Because of the amount of time remaining before the next general election, the Republican and Democratic central committees will each have the opportunity to put one candidate on the November ballot. These committees have months to determine who that person will be and potentially weed out those who may not be as qualified. However, any individual wanting to seek the office as an independent must obtain his or her signatures and file their petitions by Monday.

This tight window for independent candidates, when the two major parties have much longer to prepare and find those to be placed on the ballot, simply isn’t fair.

Of course, our entire political system is geared towards the two major parties at a local, state and national levels. But this goes too far and is anything but a level playing field.

It is unlikely that Ohio lawmakers will ever do much to change this because the current structure protects the Republicans and Democrats from outside opposition. Still, we hope someone in Columbus will act as a true public servant and lead the way on this change that would essentially allow citizens to have more choices.