President Joe Biden may face eligibility issues on the Ohio ballot in November. At least that’s according to a letter from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, which informed the state’s leading Democrats that this summer’s Democratic National Convention may take place too late for Biden to appear on the ballot on Election Day.
The letter, first obtained by ABC News and made public Friday night, was sent to Ohio Democratic Party Chairwoman Liz Walters and other top Democrats in the state. Penned by Paul Disantis, the chief legal counsel for Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, it raised “an apparent conflict” in state law that could cause headaches for the Biden campaign.
“The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to convene on August 19, 2024, which occurs more than a week after the August 7 deadline to certify a presidential candidate to the office,” Disantis wrote.
Requesting “prompt attention to the matter,” the Buckeye State’s election official was “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.”
Both options come with their own obstacles. The state’s General Assembly, which consists of a Senate and House of Representatives, is dominated by the GOP, which has taken advantage of some of the most extreme partisan gerrymandering in the country to cement Republican control over the state. Moving the date of the convention would also likely be a logistical nightmare.
A Biden campaign spokesperson told ABC News that they are “monitoring the situation in Ohio,” adding that the campaign is “confident that Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” while an Ohio Democratic Party communications official told CNN that the party is “looking into the matter.”
“As Ohio goes, so goes the nation” has long been an Election Day adage, serving as a bellwether for American presidential elections.
Former President Barack Obama carried the state in 2008 and 2012 by five and three points, respectively, before its voters broke definitively for Trump in 2016 and 2020. The latter race was the first time in 60 years that the candidate who won Ohio lost the presidential race, as Trump’s rise to political power transformed the political dynamics of the Buckeye State.
Most recent polling gives the Republican presumptive nominee a double-digit lead over the incumbent Democrat in Ohio.
