(The Center Square) – National Democrats plan to nominate President Joe Biden through a virtual roll call to beat an Ohio deadline to place him on the November ballot, Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo said on social media early Tuesday afternoon.
The news comes as Ohio lawmakers opened their first called special session in a decade in an attempt to reach a deal to change state law to allow Biden on the ballot despite the lateness of the Democratic National Convention in mid-August.
Russo, D-Upper Arlington, retweeted a quote from Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, who said in a statement, “Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio and all 50 states, and Ohio Republicans agree. But when the time has come for action, they have failed to act every time, so Democrats will land this plane on our own. Through a virtual roll call, we will ensure that Republicans can’t chip away at our democracy through incompetence or partisan tricks and that Ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice.”
Democrats in both the House and the Senate want what they call a clean bill from the special session that deals only with changing state law to allow Biden to be on the ballot. Senate Republicans plan to stand on the recently passed Senate Bill 114, which puts Biden on the ballot but also takes action against foreign campaign contributions.
The House has not voted on SB114.
“We agree with the governor” Senate Republican caucus spokesman John Fortney wrote on a blog “It is time to protect Ohio’s elections by outlawing foreign campaign contributions, while at the same time fixing the Democratic Party’s error that kept Joe Biden off the November ballot. We encourage the Speaker and Minority Leader to allow a vote on House Bill 114 which does both.”
Republican House leadership said they expect bills to be introduced Tuesday, hear public testimony Wednesday and likely vote Thursday. The House scheduled a session for 10 a.m. on Thursday.
House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, said there is an agreement to ban foreign political contributions and the House is moving toward a solution.
“For weeks, we have been pushing to find a legislative solution to having President Biden on the ballot,” Stephens said. “Ultimately, the will to do so wasn’t there in the Republican caucus. We have language that has input from campaign finance experts and important interested parties to deal with the issue. This is language that squarely and directly bans foreign influence in Ohio’s issue campaigns, while not also inadvertently limiting the rights of citizens to have their voices heard.”
Last month, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said state law and the timing of the Democratic National Convention were at odds. Ohio’s deadline to certify candidate names is Aug. 7; the convention is Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
Biden clinched enough pledged delegates for the Democratic nomination in early March.
