President Joe Biden may have trouble getting on the general election ballot in Ohio because of an apparent conflict in state law related to the timing of the Democratic National Committee’s nominating process and a deadline for certifying the party’s presidential nominee to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, per reports.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose flagged the issue in a letter sent to Ohio Democratic Chair Liz Walters on April 5, which was obtained by several news outlets.
Mr. LaRose wrote in the letter that Aug. 7, 2024, is the deadline to certify a presidential candidate to his office but the Democratic National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 19, 2024, so about a week too late for President Biden to appear on Ohio’s general election ballot.
Ohio state rules indicate that officials of a political party must certify the name of their chosen presidential candidate “on or before the ninetieth day before the day of the general election,” which in the 2024 election cycle falls on Nov. 5, meaning the certification deadline falls on Aug. 7.
The fix, according to Mr. LaRose, is for the state’s lawmakers to pass an exception or for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to hold its nominating convention earlier.
“I am 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,” Mr. LaRose’s legal counsel, Paul Disantis, wrote in the letter, per ABC.
Neither the Biden campaign nor the DNC responded to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
However, a Biden campaign spokesperson told ABC that the campaign is confident in being able to resolve the issue while the DNC told the outlet it’s reviewing the letter.
President Biden faced no serious challenger for the party’s nomination, which he clinched in March by securing a majority of delegates. However, state delegates still need to go to the national convention to vote to confirm their choice of presidential candidate, a process that formalizes their pick.
President Biden, who is struggling with low approval ratings, has faced sharp criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for his handling of immigration policy as the number of illegal border crossings hit a record high during his administration.
His apparent ballot challenge that has emerged in Ohio comes as the Biden campaign announced that it had raised $90 million in March, bringing its war chest to $192 million cash on hand.
By contrast, the Trump campaign closed out the month of March with $93.1 million in its coffers, with a March haul of $65.6 million.
Most Expensive Election Cycle in History
President Biden and President Trump are poised to face off in the Nov. 5 general election in a repeat matchup of 2020, which was the most expensive federal campaign in history.
In the 2020 election cycle, spending on the presidential race exceeded $6 billion, according to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan research group that tracks money in American politics.
Spending in the 2024 cycle is expected to set new records, with advertising monitoring firm AdImpact projecting that over $10.2 billion will be spent on political ads, or roughly 13 percent higher than four years ago.
The Biden campaign and allied groups have spent over $16 million on ads since the Super Tuesday primaries on March 5, and have $132 million reserved in ads through Election Day, according to AdImpact.
By contrast, the Trump campaign and its allies have spent $3.4 million since Super Tuesday, with $265,000 in currently booked ads.
President Trump’s campaign is holding a high-dollar fundraiser on Saturday that is expected to bring in $43 million, which would set a new record for the most money raised during a single fundraising event.
From The Epoch Times
