The state’s secretary of state has confirmed that President Joe Biden will not be featured on Ohio’s presidential ballot in November.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said, “Today, the Speaker of the Ohio House told members of the media there would not be a legislative solution,” adding he was “duty bound to instruct boards of elections to begin preparing ballots that do not include the Democratic Party’s nominees for president and vice president of the United States.”
The official nomination of Biden by the Democratic National Convention will not occur until August 19, which contradicts an Ohio law requiring presidential candidates to inform the secretary of state’s office about their nomination 90 days prior to the election.
Due to the current impasse in the swing state’s legislature, it is now too late to amend the law before the August 7 deadline. While the Senate leaders in Ohio have passed a bill that would resolve this issue by allowing certification to take place 74 days before the election, the House of Representatives adjourned without considering any version of the bill.
To resolve the situation, the Democratic Party could either change the date of their convention or pursue legal action, arguing that an arbitrary and lengthy deadline that prevents Biden from running violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
“A legislative fix, which would have pushed back the certification deadline to accommodate the late date of the Democratic National Convention, stalled out this month as Republicans in the Ohio Senate tacked on a partisan measure that would ban foreign donations to state ballot initiatives. Mr. LaRose has previously said that passing the ban is the price that Democrats must pay to ensure that Mr. Biden is on the ballot and that he would otherwise enforce the law as written,” the New York Times reported.
I’ve said from here to Colorado that it’s in the best interest of voters to have a choice in the race for president. I’m also duty-bound to follow the law as Ohio’s chief elections officer.
As it stands today, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee will not be on the Ohio… pic.twitter.com/Y5AkZBoow2
— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) May 21, 2024
