There is a possibility that President Joe Biden could be ruled ineligible to make an appearance on Ohio’s general election ballot due to a scheduling conflict between the DNC and the Ohio secretary of state’s office as per ABC News.
It has been noted that in a letter obtained by ABC News, legal counsel for Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) has raised concerns to the state’s Democratic Chair Liz Walters Friday about “an apparent conflict in Ohio law” that raised red flags.
The legal counsel “sought clarification” for the “conflict” between the DNC’s nominating process and the deadline by which the party’s presidential nominees must be certified by the secretary of state’s office.
The DNC, which is expected to nominate Biden for the 2024 general election, is scheduled to begin on Aug. 19. However, Ohio’s certification deadline is earlier — August 7.
According to ABC News, the letter from legal counsel Paul Disantis read in part:
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.
Ohio has become a Republican state, with the party currently controlling Ohio’s offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature. Donald Trump won Ohio by eight points in both 2016 and 2020.
The Ohio Democratic Party have confirmed that they were currently reviewing the letter, but did not tell ABC News how they planned to proceed. The Biden campaign told ABC News, “We’re monitoring the situation in Ohio and we’re confident that Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states.”
