Apparently, weeks of warnings and reminders from Ohio’s Secretary of State is not enough as the Democratic Party continues slow walking in submitting a requirement needed for Joe Biden to qualify for the state’s ballot.
Secretary of State Frank La Rose again issued a warning last Tuesday that Biden may not appear on the ballot in Ohio in November.
The Ohio Democratic Party received its first warning from LaRose’s legal counsel, Paul DiSantis, last April 5. The state law requires all political parties to provide certification of their official presidential and vice-presidential candidates 90 days before Election Day. The deadline is on August 7.
However, Biden’s nomination will only be finalized by August 19, during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
LaRose lamented that weeks after his notice, the Ohio Democratic Party nor the Democratic National reached his office, none of them expressed “intent to comply with Ohio’s ballot access deadline.”
The secretary of state sent a follow-up letter and noted, “As it stands today, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee will not be on the Ohio ballot. That is not my choice.”
LaRose further said, “It’s due to a conflict in the law created by the party, and the party has so far offered no legally acceptable remedy.”
“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 nominees for president and vice president of the United States.
“Let me be clear that this is not an action I wish to take, as I believe it to be in the best interest of Ohio voters to have a choice between at least the two major party candidates for the nation’s highest political office.”
The Democrats want the laws to bend for them as they proposed submitting a “provisional certification.” However, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost rejected this.
Yost told LaRose that provisional certifications are unacceptable under state law and emphasized that even the secretary is not allowed to provide a different solution other than what is stated in the election law.
Ohio lawmakers proposed to move the submission of certification to 74 days, which would fall on August 23, one day after the DNC convention, but the bill failed to advance as Ohio State Representatives had already adjourned.
Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R) remarked that lawmakers will not be able to pass a resolution in time to revise the state law.
“There’s just not the will to do that from the legislature,“ he said.
”It’s a hyper-political environment at this at this time of year. And there are some Republicans who just didn’t want to vote on it. And there were some who did [want to]. I think there are other alternatives to it, so why create a stir that’s not necessary.”
