Liam Conner
The Republican governor of Ohio Mike DeWine said Thursday he is calling a rare special session of the General Assembly next week to pass legislation that would ensure President Joe Biden is on the state’s ballot in 2024.
The special session was called for Tuesday.
“Ohio is running out of time to get Joe Biden, the sitting president of the United States, on the ballot this fall,” DeWine said. “Not doing so is simply unacceptable. This is ridiculous. This is an absurd situation.”
The question of whether Biden will appear on the ballot has become embroiled in a partisan legislative fight to keep foreign money out of state election campaigns, a year after money tied to a Swiss billionaire fueled a successful effort to enshrine the right to abortion in the country’s solidly red state constitution.
The Democratic National Convention, where Biden will be formally nominated, ends after the Ohio voting deadline of August 7. The convention will be held from August 19th to 22nd. in Chicago.
Since Ohio changed the certification deadline from 60 to 90 days before the general election, state lawmakers have had to adjust the requirement twice, in 2012 and 2020, to accommodate candidates from both parties. Each change was only temporary.
This year, lawmakers were unable to find a solution to the May 9 limit set by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
DeWine said he spoke to LaRose on Thursday and said we are “up against a wall.” LaRose told him that next Wednesday is the deadline.
“I waited. I was patient. And my patience ran out,” DeWine said.
DeWine said his proclamation will allow passage of a Senate version of the bill that also prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to Ohio ballot measures.
The proposal has been described as a “poison pill” in the fragmented Ohio House, where Republicans depend on Democratic votes to pass legislation.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Senate President Matt Huffman encouraged House leadership to allow a vote on House Bill 114.
“We agree with the governor. It’s time to protect Ohio’s elections by banning foreign campaign contributions while correcting the Democratic Party’s mistake that kept Joe Biden out of the November election,” the statement said.
DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said after the governor spoke that a “clean” House bill that would change the voting deadline permanently could also be considered.
Ohio House Democratic Leader Allison Russo said via Social Platform X that money from foreign donors is already illegal and that the real problem is dark money going to candidates.
“GOP strategy: Change the rules when you can’t win,” Russo said. “They are terrified when citizens use their voice with direct democracy, so now they want to completely subvert citizens’ ability to finance electoral initiatives. Any talk of ‘foreign money’ is a red herring.”
State Democratic Party Chairwoman Elizabeth Walters accused GOP lawmakers of politicizing the process and disenfranchising Ohioans.
“We must pass the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act, which would require dark money groups to identify their funders, disclose their spending and strengthen the ban on foreign money,” Walters said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, Republican politicians who hold supermajorities in both chambers of the House must put politics aside and pass a clean bill to get Joe Biden on the ballot,” she continued. “Despite the political skill of Republicans, we are confident that Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio.”
Republican state House Speaker Jason Stephens said lawmakers have language that prohibits foreign influence in election campaigns without harming citizens’ rights.
“We expect real solutions that will actually pass both chambers next week and resolve the issues,” Stephens said in a statement.
And fellow Republican J.D. Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, issued a statement saying calling a special session is a “reasonable compromise.”
Vance expressed confidence that former President Donald Trump would beat Biden regardless of whether or not he was on the ballot, but said “a lot of Trump voters might stay home if there isn’t a real presidential race, and that will really hurt our down vote.” . Senate and Congressional races. We need to play chess.”
The Ohio Republican Party strongly supports DeWine’s decision, said Chairman Alex M. Triantafilou.
There was no immediate response from the Biden campaign to a message seeking comment.
Alabama recently changed its law to ensure Biden appears on the fall ballot. The Alabama bill offered the president accommodations like those made four years ago for then-President Donald Trump.
The last time Ohio lawmakers were forced to return to Columbus in this way was in 2004, under Republican Gov. Bob Taft, to consider campaign finance reform.
