Last week, President Joe Biden was facing the real possibility of being excluded from the ballot in Ohio after a misstep by his election campaign.
The Democratic National Committee was planning to nominate him at the party convention, weeks after the Buckeye State’s Aug. 7 deadline for nomination.
Now, Biden is securing his place on the ballot after all, thanks to a sneaky shake-up at the D.N.C.
The D.N.C. plans to use a virtual roll-call to renominate Biden. It used a similar procedure during the pandemic.
Normally, the committee would nominate him at the convention, scheduled from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22.
The Democratic National Convention, where the president would otherwise be formally nominated, comes after Ohio’s ballot deadline of Aug. 7. The party’s convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22.
The DNC has provided no timeline for the virtual roll-call. The organization would likely need to seek approval from its rules and bylaws committee, and the rules committee is scheduled to vote on June 4.
According to Ohio law, each candidate must secure his or her party’s nomination at least 90 days before an election.
Historically, Ohio lawmakers have granted temporary exceptions to both Democrats and Republicans. The state moved the deadline for both the 2012 election and the 2020 election.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, convened a special session this month, apparently to allow Biden a similar exception.
Lawmakers began negotiating a solution Friday. State Rep. Bill Seitz told reporters during a conference call that he and state Sen. Rob McColley, both Republicans, are leading the talks, with no resolution announced as of Tuesday.
Some Democrats want a “clean” bill addressing only Biden’s ballot woes, but Republicans have used the opportunity to fold other priorities into the bill.
For example, the Ohio Senate sent its version of the ballot fix to the House after attaching a prohibition on foreign nationals donating to Ohio ballot campaigns. The House has yet to vote on it.
DeWine has urged the House to pass the bill instead of relying on the D.N.C.’s workaround.
“While I understand the Democratic National Committee has just today proposed a work-around to help President Biden on the Ohio ballot, it is prudent legislation be passed to get this done,” DeWine said in a statement.
Ohio may be trying to solve a moot problem. The state voted for Trump twice, and it looks very likely to do so a third time.
“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio and all 50 states, and Ohio Republicans agree,” D.N.C. Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.
“But when the time has come for action, they have failed to act every time, so Democrats will land this plane on our own… 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.”
The Democrats are still planning to stage their physical convention in Chicago, and — according to a Democratic National Committee official — they’ll still hold a physical, state-by-state roll-call typical of the conventions.
However, the physical convention would be rendered largely ceremonial after the virtual roll-call, and it remains unclear how the virtual roll-call might affect attendance… or the anti-Israel protests expected at the venue.