What we’ve got here is the state of Ohio being petty as heck but this time I am HERE for it.
🚨#BREAKING: President Joe Biden will not appear on Ohio’s November presidential ballot, according to Secretary of State
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) May 22, 2024
The state of Ohio has a rule that they need the name of the nominees for the presidential races at least 90 days before the election day, this year on November 5. However, the Democratic Convention isn’t until August 22. That’s only 75 days.
Biden technically won’t qualify for the ballot.
Of course, Ohio could easily remedy this situation if the legislature would move the deadline. They’ve done it before for Republicans. But the Republican-led body adjourned WITHOUT taking up the issue.
Why?
Hey, Democrats started this rock fight!
They’re trying to throw their opponent in jail, so forgive me if I laugh because Ohio won’t go out of its way to amend the rules for Democrats.
Though both the House and Senate in the Buckeye State passed resolutions to address the problem, neither of those bills advanced during the May 8 session.
Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) blamed “dysfunction” and “hyper-partisanship” for the failure to find a legislative fix. “We’ve seen the dysfunction here in this place,” Russo said. “And I think we’ve seen that folks have not been able to put aside partisanship and hyper-partisanship and infighting.”
State House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) didn’t disagree. “It’s a hyper political environment at this at this time of year,” he admitted. “There are some Republicans who just did not want to vote on it, and there were some who were [willing].”
As it stands now, the Ohio secretary of state says that Biden will NOT be on the ballot in November.
He doesn’t want it to happen, but he’s bound by the law.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, however, is less certain (that Biden will appear on the ballot). In a letter issued on Tuesday, LaRose warned Democrats: “Unless your party plans to comply with the statutory deadline, I am duty-bound to instruct boards of elections to begin preparing ballots that do not include the Democratic Party’s nominee for president and vice president of the United States.”
LaRose also stated that he does not “wish to take” this step. However, “The Ohio House of Representatives has refused to act, and the Democratic Party has so far offered no legally acceptable remedy,” he explained.
I feel so, so bad for Biden. Now he’ll lose Ohio worse than he was already going to.