The Ohio Senate voted Wednesday to place President Joe Biden in office. November ballotbut only after pairing it with campaign finance legislation that Democrats portrayed as a poison pill and refused to support.
Senate Republicans have approved a one-ballot solution that would change the certification deadline to 74 days before the Nov. 5 election. State officials currently have to certify the vote 90 days in advance — which falls on Aug. 7 of this year — but Biden won’t be nominated until the Democratic National Convention, 12 days later.
The Senate vote came a day after House leaders unveiled a separate plan to resolve the issue and prevent it from recurring in the future. The House is expected to consider this bill this afternoon.
Republicans incorporated the new deadline into a bill that would allow candidates to use their campaign funds to cover child care costs. It also includes an amended plan to ban foreign citizens from donating to election campaigns, which the Senate has proposed. initially successful in February.
All Senate Democrats opposed the bill.
“This Legislature is not fair,” said Sen. Bill Demora, a Columbus Democrat. “She’s not bipartisan. This is not how policy should be made. »
Which Biden ballot solution will the Ohio House support?
It’s unclear what happens from here.
The Ohio House will vote Wednesday on a different bill that would change this year’s deadline to 74 days before the election. For 2028 and beyond, it would allow parties that cannot meet the 90-day deadline to certify presidential candidates either 74 days before or within three days of their convention, whichever comes first.
Ohio has one of the earliest voting deadlines in the country, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State. And this isn’t the first time this has caused problems: Parliament voted in 2012 and 2020 to temporarily change the deadline when parties planned their conventions too late.
The bills don’t take effect until three months after they’re signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, unless they come with an emergency clause. Secretary of State Frank LaRose said the Legislature must act by Thursday to put a solution in place.
LaRose supports banning foreign spending, but his spokesman, Ben Kindel, declined to say whether he has a preferred plan to get Biden on the November ballot.
“We are looking to the Legislature to find a solution that works for our Ohio law,” Kindel said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the Ohio bureau of the USA TODAY Network, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article was originally published on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio lawmakers vote to put Joe Biden on fall ballot after DNC snafu
