President Joe Biden could be left off the presidential ballot in Alabama and Ohio because of scheduling issues.
In March, Biden and former President Donald Trump became their parties’ presumptive 2024 presidential nominees after a series of primary victories. The politicians are expected to face each other in November’s election as they attempt to regain the keys to the White House. However, Biden’s efforts could be marred by state bureaucracy.
In a letter dated April 9, Wes Allen, Alabama’s Republican secretary of state, notified the state and national Democratic parties that the scheduled date of the Democratic National Convention is a few days after the state’s deadline for the party to provide presidential and vice presidential nominees for the general-election ballot.
The DNC convention is scheduled for August 19, but the Alabama state deadline is August 15. Trump won Alabama with more than 60 percent of the vote in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
Newsweek has contacted a representative for Biden by text message for comment.
Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Care Can’t Wait Action
“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,” the letter said.
Meanwhile, Biden may face similar issues in Ohio, a former battleground state that Trump claimed by 8 percentage points in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
According to a letter previously seen by Newsweek, Frank LaRose, Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, sought clarification for “an apparent conflict in Ohio law” because of the state’s August 7 deadline to certify a presidential candidate. Newsweek has not obtained the letter and cannot verify its contents. The Ohio Democratic Party confirmed to ABC News, which first reported the news, that it had received the letter and was reviewing its contents.
“I am left to conclude that the Democratic National Committee must either move up its nominating convention or the Ohio General Assembly must act by May 9, 2024 (90 days prior to a new law’s effective date) to create an exception to this statutory requirement,” legal counsel Paul Disantis wrote in the letter.
“We’re monitoring the situation in Ohio, and we’re confident that Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” a Biden campaign spokesperson told Newsweek on April 6.
In 2020, both the Democratic and Republican parties held their conventions after Ohio’s deadline. Lawmakers in Ohio changed the requirement that nominees be named on the ballot 90 days before the election to 60 days, allowing the Democrats and Republicans to hold later conventions. Alabama, meanwhile, passed a law that shifted the state’s certification deadline from 82 days before the election to 75 days that year, to accommodate the 2020 Republican convention.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.