As things stand, Joe Biden will not be on the ballot in Ohio’s general election in November, which would have potentially disastrous consequences for Democrats going forward.
For months, the president and his party have been urging the legislature to pass a “solution” that would allow him to meet the state’s early August deadline. On Wednesday, the Republican-led legislature rightly decided told him Push sand.
RELATED: Ohio Department of State informs Democrats Biden’s name may not appear on November ballot
The solution will not come from the legislature, Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) and Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said in separate meetings Tuesday morning.
“There is simply no will on the part of the legislature to do this,” said Stephens.
Russo said she was skeptical the solution would ever be resolved in Parliament.
“We’ve seen the dysfunction here in this place,” she said. “And I think we’ve seen that people have failed to put aside partisanship, bipartisanship and infighting. … I think at that point you’re probably going to see either internal repercussions for the party or perhaps a lawsuit.”
At issue is the fact that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has disregarded known Ohio state laws and scheduled the conclusion of its nominating convention for August 22. The deadline to file for the general election is August 7. This means that Biden will not technically be the nominee in time to qualify.
Even if Biden would never be competitive in Ohio, his absence could depress turnout and lead to losses in poll-poor elections for his party. Remarkably, this all happens against the backdrop of several Democratic-run states are trying to forcibly remove Donald Trump from the ballot. Whether this is intended to be retaliation or not, it is certainly understandable that Republicans do not want to step in for Biden.
Of course, Ohio’s moderate Republican governor still wants to see a “solution.”
But Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the problem needed to be addressed by lawmakers.
“I am absolutely confident that it will work,” he said on Tuesday. “No one should worry, they will be able to vote for the president or the former president, whoever they want to vote for. You know, it’s not going to happen that the president’s name isn’t on the ballot. So it will be decided either by the court or by Parliament.”
The legislature doesn’t have to do anything. Nobody made the DNC arrogantly schedule its convention in conflict with Ohio’s election deadline. If they’re very worried about that, they can skip the formalities and nominate Biden earlier. Changing a state’s law to appease a political candidate would be completely off-limits. As for a court doing that, I’m not sure how a court could justify simply ignoring the state’s written law, although it wouldn’t surprise me.
DeWine should build a backbone and stop adhering to double standards. Democrats tried (and so far failed) to push Trump off the ballot in Colorado and Maine. Republicans shouldn’t rush to save her in Ohio. Let them learn the tough way.
