Ohio could keep Biden off November election ballot

The Republican who serves as Ohio’s top election official has warned that President Joe Biden might not be legally permitted to appear on the Buckeye State’s ballot because of the Democratic National Convention’s timing this year.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office sent a letter to the Ohio Democratic Party’s chair on 5 April to point out that Ohio law requires each party to nominate their presidential candidate by 7 August, 90 days before the general election.

The letter from Mr LaRose’s top lawyer, Paul Disantis, sought an answer to “an apparent conflict in Ohio law” between the convention timing and the statutory deadline by which Mr LaRose’s office must certify the party’s candidates for president and vice president.

“I am left to conclude that the Democratic National Committee must either move up its nominating convention or the Ohio General Assembly must act by May 9, 2024 (90 days prior to a new law’s effective date) to create an exception to this statutory requirement,” he said.

Absent action by Ohio’s legislature to waive the deadline, this means it will have already passed by the time Democrats convene in Chicago for the official nominating convention on 19 August.

Buckeye State lawmakers have previously waived the 7 August deadline when party conventions have been later on the calendar. In 2019, state legislators made a one-time change to the law because of the timing of the party conventions during the next year, shortening the pre-election deadline from 90 days to 60 days prior.

In a statement, a spokesperson for President Biden’s 2020 re-election campaign said it was “monitoring the situation” and remained “confident” that Mr Biden will be “on the ballot in all 50 states”.