Biden Could Be Left Off Ohio Ballot
But almost certainly won't be.
ABC News (“Biden could face challenges getting on Ohio general ballot“):
There could be potential general election ballot access concerns for President Joe Biden in Ohio, the state’s Secretary of State’s office said in a letter to Ohio Democratic Chair Liz Walters on Friday.
In the letter, obtained by ABC News, legal counsel for Secretary of State Frank LaRose sought clarification for “an apparent conflict in Ohio law” between the Democratic National Committee’s nominating process and the deadline by which the party’s presidential nominee must be certified to the Secretary of State’s office.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to convene on Aug. 19, which will take place more than a week after the Aug. 7 deadline to certify a presidential candidate in Ohio, the office flagged according to state code, which would create a problem for Biden’s eligibility.
“I am left to conclude that the Democratic National Committee must either move up its nominating convention or the Ohio General Assembly must act by May 9, 2024 (90 days prior to a new law’s effective date) to create an exception to this statutory requirement,” legal counsel Paul Disantis wrote in the letter, requesting a quick response on a solution to become compliant with state law.
The Ohio Democratic Party confirmed to ABC News that they received the letter and are in the process of reviewing it.
Copied on the letter were top Ohio Democrats: Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo and Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio.
Now, as. practical matter, Biden is unlikely to win Ohio, so it’s probably a moot point. While the state, rather remarkably, voted for the national winner in every contest between 1976 and 2016, it voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020 and is very likely to do so again.
Still, it’s absurd that the nominee of one of our two major parties—and the sitting President, no less—would be left off the ballot because the party convention took place after some absurdly early deadline.
The obvious instinct here is to chalk this up to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose being a Republican and thus trying to tip the scales in favor of his party. But 1) the deadline is one set by the state legislature and 2) he’s calling everyone’s attention to the problem four months before the deadline so that the issue can be resolved.
Nor, it turns out, does it appear that the Ohio legislature intentionally screwed over the Democrats here. It’s a longstanding provision in Ohio law and the Columbus Dispatch notes in its report that,
In 2020, both major parties scheduled their conventions for after Ohio’s deadline, which requires the nominee names 90 days before the election. Knowing this glitch was in the offing, state lawmakers in 2019 added a one-time change, shortening it to 60 days before the election.
My next thought was that the August 7 date is an artifact of a time when the party conventions were earlier. A quick Google search reveals these dates for party conventions:
- 2008: Democrats August 25-28, Republicans September 1-4,
- 2012: Republicans August 27-30, Democrats September 4-6
- 2016: Republicans July 18-21, Democrats July 25-28
- 2020: Democrats 17-20 August, Republicans August 24-27
- 2024: Republicans July 15-18, Democrats August 19-22
So, no, their being held before August 7 is a rarity; it’s only happened once in the last five cycles. It does appear, however, that the Democrats are gaming the system this year, putting their convention a month after the Republican convention rather than the next week, as is customary.
By the way, the order is set by a longstanding custom: The party that holds the White House holds its convention second.
The obvious solution here is for Ohio to move their deadline a month, to September 7, which would have accommodated all of these nominations). Alternatively, they could change the law to allow the parties another means of certification. There has not been a contest in the primary era where both parties’ nominees weren’t known well before August 7.
Regardless, I’m confident that President Biden will appear on Ohio’s ballot this year. Most likely, the state legislature will issue another “one-time” fix. Otherwise, I can’t imagine the courts would allow this to stand.
Let the games
begincontinue. 🙁LaRose is rubbing his hands with glee – anything that will cause the D’s another obstacle.
Is Ohio still allowed to disqualify Biden on these grounds, per Trump v. Anderson?
The streak began in 1964.
Noted for future reference. You’re not paying attention to the Republican courts.
@Cheryl Rofer:
So let them show the public their ass, OH is unlikely to be a “tipping point” state.
I know this is an unworthy thought which reeks of cheap cynicism, but I feel sure the potential obstacle would have been removed months ago if the Republican convention had once again been scheduled for mid-August.
Which as the party that thinks it rightfully holds the White House, it should have been!