Will Biden join the Ohio vote in November? Why the state’s Republican governor says they’re ‘out of time’ to make sure he is.

President Joe Biden has yet to be certified as the Democratic presidential nominee in the state of Ohio, and leaders from both political parties are growing restless.

The Republican government of Ohio Mike DeWine has called for a rare special session of the state General Assembly — scheduled for Tuesday, May 28 — to vote on legislation that would allow Biden to run in the 2024 presidential election, but stressed in a May 23 post on that Ohio “is in power.” out of time” to make it happen.

The measure has already faced several challenges that have prevented it from making progress. Here’s what you need to know.

✔️ Why isn’t Biden on the ballot in Ohio yet?

In Ohio, both parties must have their presidential candidates certified to Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office 90 days before the Nov. 5 general election, which in this case would be Aug. 7.

However, the Democratic National Convention, scheduled for August 19 to 22 in Chicago, where Biden will be formally nominated, is canceled. after the state’s voting deadline.

LaRose, a Republican, warned Ohio Democrats on April 5 that legislation to extend that deadline should be filed and voted on by May 9, which is 90 days after August 7, because that’s how long it would take for such legislation to pass. effect after it is signed by DeWine.

During the General Assembly session on May 9, the Senate passed legislation to address the deadline extension. But the House never voted on it, causing lawmakers to miss the deadline previously set by LaRose.

❓What was the robbery?

There have been two competing proposals — one in the House of Representatives and one in the Senate — that would have extended the deadline to confirm both Trump and Biden’s places on the November ballot. They both came to a stop.

The Senate bill, which Democrats oppose, ties the deadline extension proposal to an amendment that would ban political campaigns from accepting donations from foreign entities — a year after a Swiss billionaire’s donations helped enshrine abortion rights in the state. The House proposed a simple bill that would permanently change the deadline from 90 days to 74 days before the election.

The Senate approved his version on May 9, but House Speaker Jason Stephens was suspended without voting on it, upsetting numerous Democrats in Ohio. Stephens told the press that there was “just not the will” to pass the solution in the legislature.

😡DeWine has had enough

On Thursday, DeWine announced the special legislative session to ensure the issue is resolved in a timely manner.

‘I waited. I’ve been patient. And my patience has run out,” he said at a news conference, according to the Associated Press. “Ohio is running out of time to get Joe Biden … on the ballot this fall. Failure to do so is simply not acceptable. This is a ridiculous – this is an absurd – situation.”

🧑‍⚖️ What is the purpose of the special session?

As DeWine explained on expenditure in the state.

⏪ Ohio has been here before

Ohio changed its certification deadline from 75 days to 90 days before Election Day in 2010, and since then the state has had to make short-term workarounds to accommodate both parties before each general election.

Former President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney faced a similar challenge in Ohio in 2012, when lawmakers approved a temporary deadline change as part of an unrelated bill, according to Cleveland.com. The state did the same in 2020 for the first presidential showdown between Biden and Donald Trump.

🇺🇲 Other states have taken similar steps this year, but faster

Alabama faced the same dilemma this year, but voted unanimously in April to suspend the deadline so Biden could get on the ballot.

Washington State did that too, but the state resolved it fairly quickly.

According to ABC News, Stuart Holmes, the elections director under Washington’s Democratic Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, said his office is making an exception to the deadline that would allow Washington Democrats to certify Biden as their nominee, as long as they submit it before August. 20.

➕ Ohio Republicans agree with DeWine

“While we are confident that Donald Trump will win decisively in November, we wholeheartedly agree with the Governor’s decision to call the Legislature into emergency session to place Joe Biden on the November ballot,” the Republican Party of Ohio said in a statement.

“[We] “strongly support the idea that Ohioans deserve the opportunity to cast their vote for their preferred major party candidate and that we also deserve to hold elections free of foreign financial interests,” the report continued. “We encourage all legislators to get this done for the good of all Ohioans.”

❌ Ohio Democrats are not impressed

Democrat Allison Russo, the Ohio House Minority Leader, suggested in a post on to expand even further.

“The ‘fix’ would take effect (around August 29) AFTER the new presidential certification date of the bill (August 23),” she noted.

Elizabeth Walters, chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, told the Ohio Capital Journal that the continued delays are an attempt by Republicans to take Biden off the ballot.

“Republican politicians in the statehouse have made it clear that they want to deprive Ohioans of the ability to choose who they want to be president,” she said. “Throughout this process, corrupt politicians in Columbus have politicized the process and used it to play political games.”

Meanwhile, Charles Lutvak, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, said Biden’s name will appear on the ballot in all fifty states.

“Election after election, states across the country have acted in accordance with bipartisan consensus and taken the necessary steps to ensure that presidential candidates from both parties will participate in the vote. And this election is no different,” he said in a statement to the New York Times.