As the general election phase of the 2024 presidential election kicked off in earnest, Democratic officials noticed an unexpected administrative problem: President Joe Biden would not be formally renominated until mid-August, meaning he would miss the filing deadlines to appear on the ballot in Alabama and Ohio.
When this happened in other recent election cycles, the problems were easily resolved: State lawmakers simply pushed back arbitrary deadlines to ensure major party nominees appeared on the ballot. With this in mind, no one was particularly surprised when policymakers in Alabama did just that earlier this month.
Will the Democratic incumbent seriously compete in Alabama? No, but the state’s voters will nevertheless have a choice.
Common sense suggested that Ohio officials follow suit. When the Republican Party’s national ticket faced a similar problem in the Buckeye State in 2012 and 2020, state officials simply adjusted their deadline — without preconditions or much fuss — and it stood to reason they would do so again this year doing. year.
But that’s not what happened at all. NBC News reported:
The original plan was for the Republican Party-led Legislature to do the same thing it did in 2012 and 2020, which is also what Alabama lawmakers did earlier this month. However, Republicans in Ohio chose not to do so.
The state’s Republican governor then called a special session to resolve the mess. “This is a ridiculous – this is an absurd situation,” DeWine recently stated.
It would be fairly easy to pass a solution, but Republican lawmakers are taking a transactional approach to the matter: The Republican-led House and Senate will allow Biden’s name to appear on the 2024 ballot , they said, but only in return. for unrelated changes to state election laws.
Democrats “will land this plane on our own,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “Through a virtual roll call, we will ensure that Republicans cannot undermine our democracy through incompetence or partisan ploys and that Ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice.”
This will apparently ensure that Ohio voters can choose between the major parties’ nominees, although Republican Party leaders in the Capitol reportedly plan to move forward with their unrelated changes to state election laws anyway.
There is some irony in the circumstances. It wasn’t long ago that Donald Trump’s eligibility was challenged under the 14th Amendment, and Republicans were hysterical over Democrats who said the former president shouldn’t be on the ballot.
And yet here we are watching Republican officials in Ohio claim they will only allow Biden on the ballot if they receive a ransom. Is it any wonder Democratic officials have gotten creative to bypass lawmakers in Columbus?
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
