In a missive dispatched by legal advisors representing Ohio’s foremost election overseer, a member of the Republican Party, it was asserted that the office of the secretary of state cannot endorse a proposed workaround aimed at certifying President Joe Biden on the state’s November general election ballot.
This assertion arises amidst a clash with the Democratic National Committee regarding convention scheduling and the formal confirmation of Biden as the party’s official nominee.
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The legal representative for Secretary of State Frank LaRose poured cold water on a novel proposal presented by a Democratic attorney.
This proposal suggested the provisional certification of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, effectively informing the state beforehand of the anticipated nominee for the August convention.
This approach aimed to ensure both candidates could feature on Ohio’s ballot before the state’s August 7 certification deadline.
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LaRose’s legal counsel sought clarification from the Ohio Democratic Party on their compliance strategy with state law. Options discussed included advancing the party convention or pursuing a legislative remedy such as an exemption.
A letter received by Ohio’s secretary of state last week from Donald McTigue, an Ohio-based attorney, hinted at the possibility of provisional certification by August 7, with formal confirmation slated for the convention.
However, Ohio’s attorney general’s office contended that such a provisional certification isn’t legally recognized.
Paul DeSantis, LaRose’s Chief Legal Counsel, pointed out ambiguities in McTigue’s proposals and queried the identity behind the pronoun ‘we’ used throughout the document.
Earlier on April 5, LaRose’s office alerted both Ohio and the DNC of a potential legal conflict concerning the timing of the national party’s nominating process and the state’s certification deadline.
Similar concerns were raised by Alabama and Washington. Like Ohio, both states have previously enacted exemptions for cases where national conventions exceeded deadlines, yet candidates still made it onto the ballot.
The Biden campaign has emphasized provisional certification as the primary recourse to address calendar issues. Responding to LaRose’s letter, they reiterated their stance on Biden’s presence on all 50 state ballots and cited examples of provisional certification in other states.
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Alabama’s Secretary of State, a fellow Republican, dismissed the notion of ‘provisional certifications’ following a letter from the Biden campaign’s attorney.
In Washington, the Democratic Secretary indicated a willingness to accommodate the DNC’s requests for provisional certification.
In scenarios where provisional ballot certification isn’t feasible, the Biden campaign intends to pursue legislative avenues for deadline extensions, as done previously in Ohio.
LaRose’s legal counsel suggested legislative action to Democrats by a May 9 deadline to resolve the calendar conflict. However, the level of cooperation from the GOP-dominated Legislature remains uncertain.
Ohio’s Senate President, also a Republican, characterized the issue as a “Democratic problem” but expressed openness to proposed solutions.
