Tipsheet

Here's How Biden Will Get on the Ballot in Ohio

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 28, 2024 7:45 PM

Democrats are in a pickle when it comes to getting President Joe Biden on the ballot in Ohio, as Sarah covered last week. Per state law, the ballot has to be certified 90 days before the election, but Democrats won't be holding their convention to formally nominate Biden until August 19-22. The president earned enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee when he won the Georgia Democratic Primary in March. Gov. Mike DeWne (R-OH) called a special session to solve the ballot issue, and DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison has announced that Democrats will virtually nominate Biden to get him on the ballot.

As The Hill reported about Harrison's announcement:

“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio and all 50 states, and Ohio Republicans agree. But when the time has come for action, they have failed to act every time, so Democrats will land this plane on our own,” Harrison said in a statement.

“Through a virtual roll call, we will ensure that Republicans can’t chip away at our democracy through incompetence or partisan tricks and that Ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice,” he added.

Democrats were notified earlier this year that the timing of their convention didn’t meet a state deadline to certify the party’s presidential nominee. Democrats needed to certify Biden by Aug. 7 in order to make the Ohio ballot, but the Democratic National Convention kicks off beginning Aug. 19.

Ohio legislators struggled to reach a legislative fix; Senate Republicans passed a bill that would allow a one-time fix that would move the certification deadline back so Democrats could make it. But it was also paired with a provision that would ban foreign contributions in ballot initiatives, which Democrats rejected.

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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) ordered lawmakers last week to return to the Capitol this week to find a solution to get Biden on the ballot, expressing support for a solution similar to what the Senate proposed, which included the foreign contribution provision. 

That raised questions around how Democrats in the state would proceed, given their opposition to the state Senate’s proposal. The DNC’s solution offers Biden an avenue onto the ballot while avoiding an expensive lawsuit.

Harrison also posted about the virtual roll call in an X post from Tuesday night that called out Republicans for their handling of the issue. 

The issue isn't about Ohio Republicans looking to "chip away at our democracy," as Harrison claims in his post shared to X. One could argue it's Democrats who look to do so, since they couldn't agree with a provision that rejects foreign influence in elections. It was also the Republican governor who called the special session to fix the problem.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose has been weighing in to applaud DeWine for calling the special election, though he also has called out Democrats for rejecting the provision and for their scheduling of the DNC.

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LaRose, a Republican, has also touted his initiatives to keep Ohio elections safe and secure. Last Friday's weekly roundup describes a "new data integrity pilot program" as one that is "designed to assist county boards of elections with maintaining accurate voter registration records."

"This six county pilot program will provide the boards with access to digital dashboards that show the number of registration records flagged for potential errors, such as illegal characters in name fields, placeholder birth dates, unreasonably high ages, and improper birth/registration date combinations," the roundup also noted.

Earlier this month, a press release from the Secretary of State's office also highlighted an effort to verify citizenship status on the voter rolls. On May 14, LaRose issued a directive to the county board of elections to initiate a confirmation and removal process of non-citizens from the voter registration rolls. He also announced additional steps to "conduct an annual review of the statewide voter registration database to identify persons who appear not to be United States citizens."

"Ohioans overwhelmingly passed an amendment to our state constitution which makes it clear that only U.S. citizens can vote in our elections," said Secretary LaRose, speaking of an initiative that passed in November 2022 with 77 percent of the vote. "It is my duty under the law to uphold the constitution, and the legislature has explicitly tasked me with ensuring that only eligible citizens can register and vote."

That initiative received a shout out from former and potentially future President Donald Trump.

Once a battleground state, Ohio is now solidly Republican. Trump won the state by about 8 points in 2016 and 2020, and is expected to potentially win the state by even larger margins in 2024. Trump could also potentially help the Republican Senate nominee, Bernie Moreno, defeat vulnerable Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown in a true "Toss-Up" race.