The special session is a rarity in Ohio’s history that is expected to last the duration of this week. However, it was upended by the news that national Democrats plan to virtually nominate Biden before the state’s deadline expires.
“Democrats will land this plane on our own,” Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said. “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.”
Harrison said Ohio Republicans “failed to act” — which, while partially true, is not the entire truth. In fact, in the recent votes to get Biden on the ballot in Ohio, it’s been Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.
The Biden ballot topic has been a pressing issue for over a month now following Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s message to the national Democratic Party that the incumbent president and presumptive Democratic nominee would be officially certified too late to comply with the state’s election laws.
State legislation needs only to move Ohio’s Aug. 7 ballot deadline so that it falls after the Democratic National Convention where Biden will be formally nominated, which is scheduled for Aug. 19-22, in Chicago. The Republican convention, in Milwaukee, is July 15-18, so it doesn’t run afoul of Ohio’s rules this year.
Since Ohio changed its certification deadline from 60 to 90 days ahead of its general election, state lawmakers have had to adjust the requirement twice, in 2012 and 2020, to accommodate candidates of both leading parties. Each change was only temporary.
State lawmakers tried making the necessary tweaks to state law that would ensure that Ohioans will get their choice between Biden and former President Donald Trump this November. But progress came to an abrupt halt over a week ago when Senate Republicans opted to roll in GOP priority legislation that would limit the impact foreign nationals could have in statewide ballot initiatives.
When talks stalled over a week ago, legislative leaders were at least lightly comforted by the idea that there were several other avenues to get Biden on the ballot. National Democrats could merely certify him within the window, or a federal lawsuit could be filed arguing that Ohio not including Biden on the ballot would be disenfranchising to millions of Democratic voters.
Despite those safety nets, DeWine opted to force the issue by publicly reprimanding the legislature for passing the buck. He called it “unacceptable” that Biden wouldn’t be on the ballot under current law and said his patience had run out.
On Tuesday, he re-upped the pressure on Ohio lawmakers.
“While I understand the Democratic National Committee has just today proposed a work-around to help get President Biden on the Ohio ballot, it is prudent legislation be passed to get this done,” DeWine wrote in a statement. “As I previously said, we do not want to leave something so basic as having the sitting president of the United States on the ballot to others when this can — and should — be done legislatively. It’s the right thing to do.”
Tuesday also saw the House and Senate move forward with their own fixes.
The Senate’s dominant Republican caucus, which has been on the front foot during this ordeal, passed a tweaked, combined version of the foreign national contribution ban along with a temporary Biden ballot fix. Democrats opposed the measure full-throatedly but were widely outnumbered.
Dayton’s state Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miami Twp. — who voted on the Senate floor for the first time since late February on Tuesday — voted against the Senate bill. He was the only Republican to do so, and it passed along party lines.
“There is no reason we as Republicans in Ohio should be carving out a special exemption in Ohio law for President Biden, when they had years to prepare to meet this election deadline,” Antani said in a statement.
Antani also noted that while he opposes foreign nationals contributing to any election activity, he’s “not confident that the language included will have any effect on banning this.”
The Senate’s bill now moves to the House, which intends to move forward with its own set of two bills to achieve what is essentially the same thing. Those bills, introduced Tuesday with favor from Republicans and dissent from Democrats, will have proponent testimony in a Wednesday committee hearing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This is a developing story. This article may be updated as more information becomes available.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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