The problem: Ohio’s deadline to certify presidential candidates for the general election is Aug. 7, nearly two weeks before the Democratic National Convention, at which Biden is expected to be nominated to run against Republican challenger Donald Trump.
A similar situation came up before the 2020 presidential election. In that case, both the Republican and Democratic conventions were scheduled outside the deadline window, so Ohio lawmakers approved changing the cutoff to 60 days — but only for that election.
This news organization reached out to the leaders of Ohio’s Republican-dominated General Assembly Monday and received no immediate assurances the state legislature would amend the law this year.
They would need to do so by May 9, according to a letter to Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office raising the issue.
Absent a legislative fix, the letter says Democrats would need to move up their nominating convention.
This news organization contacted the Ohio Democratic Party about the conundrum, specifically to ask how seriously it is taking the possible ballot exclusion. “For now, our statement is we’re looking into the matter,” replied Matt Keyes, a spokesperson with the state party.
Trump won the Ohio vote for president by 8 percentage points in both 2016 (when he defeated Hillary Clinton and became president), and 2020 (when he lost nationally to Biden).
Not having Biden at the top of the ticket could have major ramifications for down-ticket races such as the hotly contested U.S. Senate race.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP