COLUMBUS — Backers of Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson on Tuesday filed petitions that they said would offer Ohio voters an alternative to Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8.

They just didn’t say that alternative was Charlie Earl of Bowling Green.

When employees at Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office opened the petition boxes labeled with Mr. Johnson’s name, they found petitions to put Mr. Earl, a former Republican state representative, on the ballot, along with vice presidential pick Kenneth C. Moellman of Foster, Ky.

“As far as we know right now, Charlie Earl is attempting to run as an independent in Ohio,” Husted spokesman Joshua Eck said.

Bob Bridges, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Ohio, made no mention of Mr. Earl or Mr. Moellman at a news conference announcing the filing for Mr. Johnson. But in a later news release, the party said Mr. Earl and Mr. Moellman represent a “placeholder presidential ticket” to “save a spot” for the real candidates once the petitions are certified.

In the release, the party said the switch was a matter of timing. The national Libertarian Party didn’t nominate Mr. Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, as its candidate until its convention in Orlando in late May. That was two months after the petition process began in Ohio with Mr. Earl.

Mr. Eck said the secretary of state’s office is looking into whether such a switch is possible.

“We are not aware of any circumstance in Ohio’s history where somebody filed a petition to run for president and then asked for somebody else’s name to be put on the ballot,” he said.

Today marks the deadline for independent and minor party candidates to file for Ohio’s fall ballot.

“Although this process is complicated, it was the only course available for the Libertarian Party and the Johnson/​Weld campaign because of the laws disingenuously passed and arbitrarily enforced by the Republican Party operatives who control Ohio’s elections,” the party’s statement reads.

“Any attempt by those same partisan hacks to characterize our petition efforts as anything but an attempt to give Ohio voters a Libertarian option is just further evidence of their ongoing campaign to disenfranchise Ohio voters and crush opposition parties,” it adds.

Neither Mr. Johnson nor Mr. Earl would appear on the ballot with the Libertarian Party label. The party lost its automatic spot on the ballot with the Republican, Democratic, and Green parties after it failed to clear signature and vote tally thresholds in prior elections.

With polls showing high dissatisfaction with the choices of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump, many voters have been looking to other candidates in a way not seen since independent Ross Perot in 1992.

A Quinnipiac Poll of likely voters in Ohio released Tuesday showed that, in a four-way race, Mrs. Clinton would get 44 percent of the vote; Mr. Trump, 42 percent; Mr. Johnson, 8 percent; and Dr. Jill Stein, 3 percent.

Dr. Stein’s name was submitted for Ohio’s ballot on Monday under the banner of the Green Party, which had already secured its spot. She has made overtures to supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders who are not yet sold on the Democratic nominee.

The Libertarian Party has been promoted primarily as an alternative for Republicans unhappy with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Bridges said the party should be the choice for someone seeking a “fiscally conservative” and “socially tolerant” candidate.

“Basically, we want to keep government out of your wallet and keep government out of your bedroom,” he said.

While Mr. Johnson is offering William Weld, former Republican governor of Massachusetts, as his running mate, Dr. Stein is offering human rights activist Ajamu Baraka.

Another independent candidate, Richard Duncan, a real estate agent and tavern owner from Aurora, Ohio, filed petitions this week to make a return appearance on Ohio’s presidential ballot, this time with his vice presidential choice, Ricky Johnson of Sharon, Pa.

The Libertarians claimed to have filed about 12,000 signatures Tuesday with the secretary of state’s office, at least 5,000 of which must survive scrutiny by county boards of elections for Mr. Earl — or Mr. Johnson — to appear on the ballot.

In 2013, the Republican-controlled legislature raised the threshold for a minor party to initially qualify for a spot on the ballot. 

It must garner at least 1 percent of the total vote for governor or president in the most recent statewide election, and file at least 500 signatures of registered voters from at least eight of the state’s 16 congressional districts.

The Libertarian Party didn’t do that this year by the July deadline.

To keep its spot on the ballot after initially qualifying, a minor party must then secure at least 3 percent of the vote in the latest gubernatorial or presidential election. Toledo’s Anita Rios, the Green Party’s gubernatorial candidate in 2014, cleared that hurdle, securing the party’s spot for Dr. Stein this year.

The Libertarians have an appeal pending in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati in hopes of overturning the new thresholds.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.

First Published August 10, 2016, 4:13 a.m.