Ohio lawmakers adjourned on May 8 without agreeing to a plan that would put President Joe Biden on the state’s General Election ballot.
The Republican super-majority House and Senate must do so by May 9 for the president to appear on the ballot, according to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican.
The deadline for political parties to nominate their presidential candidates is the issue in question.
According to Ohio law, the deadline is 90 days before the general election. This year, Election Day is Nov. 5, which makes the deadline Aug. 7.
Once passed and signed by the governor, Ohio bills typically take 90 days to become law unless they are accompanied by an emergency clause, which is the reason for Mr. LaRose’s May 9 date.
President Biden is expected to be formally nominated for reelection at the Democratic National Convention, which will be held Aug. 19–22 in Chicago.
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 former President Donald 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 that he wants to “minimize anybody thinking that there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that this isn’t going to happen.”
Alabama’s GOP-controlled House unanimously voted to pass a similar bill to get President Biden on the ballot. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed the legislation into law.
On May 8, the Republican-controlled Ohio 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.
Mr. LaRose, who ran for Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate nomination but was defeated by Bernie Moreno in March, said in a statement on May 8 that the easiest way to ensure that President Biden is on the ballot “is to pass temporary legislation that adjusts the deadline by which they can certify their nominee.”
“Democrats are more interested in protecting foreign billionaires who want to bankroll Ohio’s election than getting their presidential candidate on the ballot,” he said.
Mr. LaRose noted that the House can still act with an emergency vote.
In April, Mr. LaRose wrote a letter to state Democrat officials warning that President Biden might not qualify for the general election ballot unless Democrats adjust their convention date or convince Republicans to change state law by May 9.
Attorney Don McTigue sent a letter to Mr. LaRose’s office saying the Democrat Party would provisionally certify President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris before the Aug. 7 deadline.
President Biden has already gained enough delegates to receive the nomination, Mr. McTigue noted.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office responded that provisional approval is not permitted and that Mr. LaRose cannot change election deadlines.
President Biden’s campaign has said that their candidate will be on the ballot in all 50 states.
Mr. Huffman told reporters on May 8 that Republicans in the House and Senate would not vote for a standalone bill to get President Biden on the ballot.
“Eventually, Joe Biden is going to be on the ballot through whatever means that’s going to happen. But I think that it’s fair for us to come together and say, no foreign money in Ohio elections,” Mr. Huffman said.
President Biden faces a significant challenge in Ohio if he does appear on the ballot. President Trump won the state by eight points in 2016 and 2020. In addition to a supermajority in the state Legislature, Ohio has a Republican governor (Mr. DeWine), secretary of state (Mr. LaRose), and attorney general (Mr. Yost).
Endorsed by President Trump, Ohioan J.D. Vance was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Longtime Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown is seeking another term and faces Mr. Moreno, who is backed by President Trump, in the general election this year.
Reagan McCarthy, a spokesperson for Mr. Moreno, told The Epoch Times in an email that the candidate opposes attempts by Democrats to keep President Trump off the ballot and thinks that President Biden should be allowed on the Ohio ballot.
“He believes that Ohioans should have the right to vote for their preferred candidate for President and that, ultimately, President Trump will win Ohio in another landslide,” Ms. McCarthy wrote.
As President Biden continued his ballot access quest in Ohio on May 8, independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he had collected enough signatures in the state to appear on its ballot.
