COLUMBUS, Ohio Democratic President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is battling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to ensure he is listed on their fall ballots, as once-mundane procedural negotiations take a backseat to the country’s volatile politics. Gets stuck in.
The two states, which jointly control 26 electoral votes, have a deadline to appear on the ballot ahead of the Democratic National Convention from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22 in Chicago. Biden campaign lawyers have asked their secretaries of state to accept provisional certifications before the cutoff, which will be updated after Biden is formally nominated.
Ohio Secretary of State and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Frank LaRose speaks to supporters during a campaign event in Hamilton, Ohio, on Monday, March 18, 2024. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is struggling with the Republican-dominated states of Ohio and Alabama. The move to assure he is listed on their November ballots comes amid signs that a routine procedural conversation is becoming politically charged.
Ohio Secretary of State and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Frank LaRose speaks to supporters during a campaign event in Hamilton, Ohio, on Monday, March 18, 2024. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is struggling with the Republican-dominated states of Ohio and Alabama. The move to assure he is listed on their November ballots comes amid signs that a routine procedural conversation is becoming politically charged.
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen told The Associated Press that he would not accept provisional certification because he did not have the legal authority to do so. Allen said he sent a letter to the Alabama Democratic Party informing them of the date problem so they could resolve the issue.
Alabama Secretary of State, Wes Allen, speaks during the inauguration ceremony on the steps of the Alabama state capitol on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, in Montgomery, Alabama. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is struggling with the Republican-dominated state of Ohio. And to assure Alabama he is listed on their November ballots, amid signs that a routine procedural conversation is becoming politically charged.
Alabama Secretary of State, Wes Allen, speaks during the inauguration ceremony on the steps of the Alabama state capitol on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, in Montgomery, Alabama. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is struggling with the Republican-dominated state of Ohio. And to assure Alabama he is listed on their November ballots, amid signs that a routine procedural conversation is becoming politically charged.
“I am not dissuading anyone. I’m just telling them what the law is,” Allen said. “I took an oath to uphold Alabama law and that’s what I’m going to do.”
State Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelly accused Allen of “partisan gamesmanship”, pointing out that Alabama has made adjustments to accommodate late Republican conventions in the past.
Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a similar letter to the Ohio Democratic Party last week. The letter suggested the party needed to either reschedule its convention or obtain legislative determination by May 9 to include Biden on the November 5 ballot.
The notion of removing a presidential candidate from the ballot began last year with a legal campaign to remove former President Donald Trump from various states’ ballots by citing a rarely used section of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Which bars people “involved in rebellion” from contesting elections. Office. After Democratic-dominated states including Colorado and Maine did so, Republicans warned they could block Biden from voting in red states if the Supreme Court did not overturn the action.
The High Court had ruled only last month that under the constitutional provision, individual states cannot stop a candidate from contesting elections for national office. But Alabama and Ohio moved forward nonetheless,