According to a new report, Ohio lawmakers ended their session on Wednesday without reaching a consensus on a proposal to include President Joe Biden on the state’s general election ballot. The Republican-controlled House and Senate need to find a solution by May 9; otherwise, Biden may not appear on the ballot in November.
Unlike leftist efforts to boot Trump from state ballots nationwide, this issue comes down entirely to the enforcement of a legitimate law on the books.
This issue revolves around the deadline for political parties to nominate their presidential candidates. Per Ohio law, this deadline falls 90 days ahead of the general election. With this year’s Election Day set for November 5, the deadline is August 7—nearly two weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where Biden (likely) will be formally nominated as the Democrats’ presidential candidate.
According to The Epoch Times, in Ohio’s legislative process, bills usually require 90 days from passage and gubernatorial signature to become law, unless they include an emergency clause. This clause is precisely why Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has pointed to May 9 as the critical date for a legislative fix to occur.
House Minority Leader Allison Russo, a Democrat, told reporters that a legislative solution is now unlikely. A lawsuit is possible, she noted.
“We see once again that politicians and the politics and playing games with this piece of legislation ruled the day,” Ms. Russo said.
Senate President Matt Huffman, a Republican, said last month that he believes that a federal judge will order President Biden onto the Ohio ballot. He pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Trump would appear on the Colorado and Maine ballots because states can’t prevent federal candidates from ballot access.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said on May 8 that President Biden will appear on the ballot through legislation or the courts and he wants to “minimize anybody thinking that there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that this isn’t going to happen.”
The Republican-dominated House in Alabama unanimously approved a comparable bill to ensure Biden’s presence on the ballot. Governor Kay Ivey, also a Republican, subsequently signed the legislation into law.
Curiously, the problems with passing the law isn’t coming from Republicans, who have a supermajority in the state government. It’s coming from Democrats.
On May 8, the Republican-controlled Senate voted on party lines to pass legislation that would amend the certification deadline for President Biden’s ballot access while banning foreign contributions to state ballot measure campaigns.
The latter provision’s addition conflicted with the House’s bill from earlier this week that did not include that attachment.
The House version would add President Biden’s name to the general election ballot and permit additional time for political parties to certify nominees in future presidential elections.
“Democrats are more interested in protecting foreign billionaires who want to bankroll Ohio’s election than getting their presidential candidate on the ballot,” Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in a statement.
