"The Ohio Secretary of State is warning that President Joe Biden won't make it on the general election ballot in Ohio unless a state law is changed or the Democratic National Convention meets earlier.
"The Secretary of State's office sent a letter April 5 to Ohio Democratic Party Chairwoman Liz Walters that alerted her to the issue.
"The Democratic National Convention meets August 19 to nominate its candidate for president but Ohio law sets a deadline of August 7 to certify presidential candidates for the November ballot."
The GOP did not do this to Biden. The Democrats did this to Biden. I have read that no one has been elected to the Presidency without Ohio in a century. It is not the electoral votes but that Ohio is very close to the mainstream of American values. Still in a close race, guaranteed loss of Ohio might be enough.
The story notes that both parties would have missed the deadline in 2020, and that in 2019 the legislature passed a one-time 30-day delay.
ReplyDeleteThat precedent could put a lot of pressure on the legislature to do it again.
Or.. The DNC could issue a pre-convention nominee designation to Biden, with the provision that it has to be ratified by the convention. That however could tie the Democrats' hands if they are planning to have Biden announce his withdrawal at the convention and then nominate some surprise replacement (Michelle Obama has been touted).
Also - does the Ohio law have provision for replacing a candidate who dies? Or has severe medical problems?