(IntegrityPress.org) – Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose has issued a warning that President Joe Biden may not appear on the state’s ballot for the November election unless state lawmakers act quickly to guarantee compliance with local law.
Under Ohio state law, presidential and vice presidential candidates must be “certified or nominated” at least 90 days in advance of the election. That places the deadline on August 7, but the Democratic National Convention takes place almost two weeks later. Traditionally state lawmakers have passed a bill that authorized an exclusion, but Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens told the corporate press that there aren’t any bills or legislative action on the agenda to correct the problem.
LaRose published an open letter to the state’s leading Democrat official, Chairwoman Liz Walters, informing her that there has been no attempt by her party to comply with Ohio state law to guarantee Biden appears on the ballot. He suggested two different ways they could comply with the relevant law: either advance the date of the DNC or propose legislative action within the state congress to authorize an exemption.
LaRose said that unless some attempt is made to mitigate existing law, Biden may be disqualified from appearing on the ballot. He also said that he would hope that the necessary changes are made in time as he would prefer to offer voters all possible options, but that he is legally bound by the letter of the law.
Democrats could also sue to guarantee ballot access, but the courts are notoriously slow and as yet there’s been no apparent effort to put forth a legal challenge to guarantee Biden appears on the ballot.
The consensus seems to be that Biden will appear on the ballot, at least according to the state’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine. DeWine told members of the corporate press that it would “be done by the court” and implied that Biden will be on Ohio’s ballot one way or another.
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