COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — The Ohio House is expected to vote on a bill that would fix a problem in state law that could keep Democratic President Joe Biden off the November ballot.
President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt forgiveness, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Oct. 4, 2023, in Washington. Biden has a lot of unfinished business from his first term that he intends to continue if reelected. [Evan Vucci | AP, File]The bill would change the certification deadline to 74 days before the November 5 election. Currently, the law requires election officials to certify the ballot 90 days before the next election. Biden wouldn’t be certified until the Democratic National Convention meets 12 days after that deadline.House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) said this bill fixes that issue.“It changes the reporting deadline from….to 74 days and it enables the notification to be a lot more flexible whether it is email or whatever that case is. So this just gives the flexibility so the secretary of state can follow the law and everybody can have their convention and we can get this taken care of,” Stephens said.“So hopefully this will take care of that issue without much fanfare,” Stephens said.
House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said she’s optimistic.
“I’m glad to see this bipartisan effort to come to the table. I think this is common sense. It fixes an issue for both parties, an issue that we’ve had to fix in the past,” Russo said.
Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) has said in the past that Biden would be on the Ohio ballot but didn’t specify exactly how that would happen.
The 90-day deadline was created in a 2010 law. Legislators made changes in law to temporarily change the deadline for the elections in 2012 and 2020, because both Republicans and Democrats had conventions scheduled for after the deadline.
