Editors at National Review Online criticize the latest partisan posturing that could leave a major presidential candidate off a state’s election ballot.
The Democratic National Convention does not conclude until August 22, when Joe Biden is formally renominated for president. When the Democrats announced they were scheduling their convention so late in the election cycle, observers immediately noted that the timing fell afoul of two deadlines written into law, those of Alabama and Ohio, which require nominees to be submitted 90 days before Election Day (in other words, the week of August 12).
The matter can be easily fixed; all a legislature need do is pass a technical bill adjusting the date, as legislatures have done frequently in both the past and present, most recently in 2020 during the pandemic. And in fact, one month ago the — overwhelmingly Republican — Alabama legislature acted to do just that, sending a bill to Governor Kay Ivey that made sure Joe Biden’s name would not be stricken from their voters’ ballots.
Ohio’s state house, however, has been disconcertingly mulish about acting to fix the state’s version of this problem. It adjourned once on May 8, and then again on May 22, without addressing the matter. Republican governor Mike DeWine has now called for a special session of the legislature to convene in order to deal with the issue, saying, “Ohio is running out of time to get Joe Biden, the sitting president of the United States, on the ballot this fall. Failing to do so is simply not acceptable. This is a ridiculous — this is an absurd situation.”
We agree with Governor DeWine — Ohio’s legislature should pass a bill ensuring the president of the United States’ name remains on the ballot this November. We emphasize that this is a matter of the utmost gravity. It is not — and cannot possibly ever be — about cheap and temporary partisan advantage. It is a question about the fundamental legitimacy of American elections.
