Why Biden isn’t on the November ballot in Ohio — yet

Ohio state legislators are scrambling to get President Biden on the November ballot after members failed to break a legislative impasse this week.

State law says presidential candidates need to be certified with the state 90 days before the November election; this year, that date is Aug. 7. But Democrats are on track to miss that goal, given Biden is set to be formally nominated during the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 19.

Legislators in the state Senate and state House worked on competing proposals, but efforts to pass them through the state Capitol have stalled — raising questions around what steps members will take next to make sure Biden gets onto the ballot in the coming months.

Here’s a look at why Biden isn’t on the fall ballot — yet:

The competing proposals

Members in the state House and state Senate have sought to create their own workarounds to a largely logistical issue — getting presidential candidates certified for the fall ballot.

The state Senate passed legislation that would allow a one-time fix for Democrats, allowing the party to certify their presidential ticket to the Ohio Secretary of State 74 days before the election.

But the bill also includes a provision that bans foreign nationals from contributing to ballot campaign initiatives — prompted by Republicans because Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss donated millions of dollars to groups that ultimately aided a successful abortion ballot initiative last year.

Meanwhile, the state House took a different tactic — using a bill that had already passed the state Senate — and workshopped it anew. The original bill was one that allowed special elections in August under certain circumstances, but the House instead scrapped that entirely and rewrote it to allow a party’s presidential candidates to be certified to the Ohio Secretary of State either 74 days before the general election, or three days after a party’s national convention, whichever came first.

While the state House informally passed its workaround solution, it still requires a floor vote. Legislation that passed in the state Senate has yet to be voted on in the House, leaving both sides in limbo despite vows from party leaders that the president will be on the ballot.

Tensions within the GOP

David Cohen, a political science professor at The University of Akron, explained political tensions within the GOP in the state Legislature are a driving force behind why members are at a crossroads over how to get Biden on the November ballot.

Both the state Senate and state House have comfortable GOP majorities. But Cohen explained there are several political undercurrents to take note of — Ohio state Rep. Jason Stephens’s (R) path to becoming state House Speaker, which included support from House Democrats, infighting within the GOP and the fact that state Senate President Matt Huffman (R), who is term-limited, is vying to take on Stephens in the speakership race.

Senate Republicans see the ballot conundrum as an opportunity to gain something politically and aren’t interested in a clean bill, but the political calculus is more complicated on the House side.

“The Democrats are a superminority anyways … they don’t really have a voice. So this — this is a Republican Party issue,” Cohen explained about Biden’s absence on the state ballot. “And if it’s going to get solved, the Republican Party’s going to have to figure out how to do it.”

The options ahead

Among some of the solutions that legislators could take to fix the snafu is the move to add an emergency clause to legislation, which would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to pass, according to Statehouse News Bureau.

Democrats and the Biden campaign could potentially turn to the courts as an option, though Cohen expressed he’d be “flabbergasted” if that became required. He suggested he could see a scenario where Gov. Mike DeWine (R) intervenes.

“Republicans don’t get any electoral benefit from keeping Biden’s name off the ballot. So, so why would they do that?” Cohen said. “And I think if they did that, it would infuriate so many Democrats, and more importantly, independents here, that they might as well just give [Sen.] Sherrod Brown the election before Election Day.”

Daniel Birdsong, a senior lecturer in the department of political science at the University of Dayton who published a column pushing for legislators to change the deadline to certify the ballot, argued the effect of keeping Biden off the ballot could also hurt Republicans

“Electorally, you want someone to run against,” said Birdsong.

“You have both who I’m voting for and who I’m running against, which has helped motivate some people,” he added.

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