Biden could miss deadline to be on General Election ballot in Ohio, Alabama

President Joe Biden could be left off the November ballot in two states, election officials said Tuesday, adding that the date of the Democratic Party’s convention comes after each state’s certification deadline, according to The Associated Press.

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Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen noted that the date of the convention falls after the date the state has chosen to have verified candidates submit their names for the November ballot.

A similar statement was made Monday by Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

According to Allen, he sent a letter to Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley saying that the state’s Aug. 15 certification deadline falls four days before the start of the DNC’s convention, the AP reported. Biden will receive his party’s nomination at the convention.

Allen said that under Alabama’s election law, Biden’s name will not appear on the ballot unless the certification deadline is met. Alabama law requires the names of presidential nominees to be submitted 82 days before the election.

“If this Office has not received a valid certificate of nomination from the Democratic Party following its convention by the statutory deadline, I will be unable to certify the names of the Democratic Party’s candidates for President and Vice President for ballot preparation for the 2024 general election,” Allen wrote.

According to the AP, Kelley said Tuesday night that he had contacted the Democratic National Committee about the issue. The DNC said one option would be for the party to send in a provisional certification and then send a certified nomination after it takes place.

“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” the Biden campaign said in a statement. “State officials have the ability to grant provisional ballot access certification prior to the conclusion of presidential nominating conventions. In 2020 alone, states like Alabama, Illinois, Montana, and Washington all allowed provisional certification for Democratic and Republican nominees.”

Ohio was another state that made an exception for certifying nominations. In 2020, both the Democratic and Republican parties scheduled their conventions for after Ohio’s certification deadline, The Washington Post reported.

In Ohio, LaRose told the state’s Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters that the DNC’s nominating convention is scheduled too late for Biden to make the Ohio ballot because state law requires nominees to be certified at least 90 days before the general election, according to the Post.

The deadline in Ohio is Aug. 7.

Neither Alabama nor Ohio legislative leaders have commented on passing legislation to allow for a late certification. Both states have Republican-majority legislatures.

The Democratic National Convention runs from Aug. 19-Aug. 22. The Republican National Convention begins on July 15 and ends on July 18.

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