President Biden now appears poised to make the Ohio ballot after all — with a little help from his friends.
The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday it planned to formally renominate Biden, 81, and Vice President Kamala Harris in a “virtual roll call” — rendering the pageantry of the August convention in Chicago moot in order to comply with the Buckeye State’s Aug. 7 certification deadline.
“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio and all 50 states,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison declared in a statement.
“And Ohio Republicans agree. But when the time has come for action, they have failed to act every time, so Democrats will land this plane on our own.”
A date for the virtual roll call has yet to be announced. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is scheduled to vote to make the procedure change official on June 4, with the full committee expected to do the same soon after.
The Aug. 19-22 convention at the United Center will go ahead as planned.
Biden had been in jeopardy of being left off the Ohio ballot due to the Democratic National Convention behind held after the deadline under state law for parties to certify the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Top Republicans in Ohio, including Gov. Mike DeWine, have urged the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass legislation extending the deadline and ensuring Biden will get on the ballot.
DeWine had called a special legislative session that convened Tuesday in Columbus to address the snafu.
“While I understand the Democratic National Committee has just today proposed a work-around to help get President Biden on the Ohio ballot, it is prudent legislation be passed to get this done,” DeWine said in a statement.
The Ohio Senate passed a bill extending the certification deadline, but included a provision restricting the use of foreign money in state referenda, at which Democrats balked.
“Through a virtual roll call, we will ensure that Republicans can’t chip away at our democracy through incompetence or partisan tricks and that Ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice,” Harrison said.
Last week, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, re-upped his warning to Democrats that Biden was at risk of losing ballot access.
Ohio adopted its rule mandating ballot certification 90 days before a general election in 2010. Since then, it has been forced to extend the deadline for Republicans and Democrats in both 2012 and 2020.
Alabama and Washington have also taken steps to forestall any potential ballot snarls that could preclude Biden from access.
Ahead of the convention in Chicago, there have been rumors about Democrats possibly scaling down the number of in-person events due to anticipated protests.
Divisions over the Israel-Hamas war have dogged Democrats heading into the Nov. 5 presidential election and some strategists fear that intra-party strife could be on full display at the convention.