The letter, citing Ohio’s presidential ballot laws, said the deadline to certify a presidential candidate in Ohio is 90 days before the general election. The election is Nov. 5 this year, putting the Ohio deadline at Aug. 7 — but the Democratic National Convention, which is expected to nominate Biden for a rematch against Donald Trump, isn’t scheduled to convene until Aug. 19.
The letter from Paul DiSantis, chief legal counsel for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), asked Democratic state legislative leaders for clarification to assure the party’s “timely compliance with Ohio law.”
Members of the Ohio Democratic Party who were copied in the letter — Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo and Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio — did not respond to The Post’s request for comment Sunday morning, but the Biden campaign said the president would appear on the ballot.
“We’re monitoring the situation in Ohio and we’re confident that Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” Josh Marcus-Blank, a Biden-Harris 2024 campaign spokesperson, told The Post in an email.
LaRose’s office suggested that either the Democratic National Committee move up its nominating convention to meet the Aug. 7 deadline or that the Ohio General Assembly create an exception to the law for the Democrats’ nominee.
Ohio voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
It would be surprising for a Democratic or Republican nominee not to appear on the general election ballot of all 50 states, but in this year’s Democratic primaries, Biden was not on the ballot in New Hampshire.
Democrats revamped their primary schedule for 2024 to make South Carolina the first contest, but New Hampshire — where a state law requires that its primaries are the first in the nation — did not push its Democratic primary in response. The national party urged candidates not to participate, and Biden opted not to put his name on the ballot, but he won as a write-in candidate anyway.
In 2016, Trump almost missed appearing on the general election ballot in Minnesota because of a miscue from that state’s Republican Party. In December, Colorado disqualified Trump from the state’s primary ballots, but the Supreme Court unanimously overruled that decision.
Both major candidates have visited Ohio, which has 17 electoral votes, this year.
Biden visited East Palestine, Ohio, in February, more than a year after a train derailment there caused environmental issues and political disputes.
Last month, Trump held a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, where he said that some immigrants accused of crimes are “not people” and that there would be a “bloodbath for the country” if he isn’t elected.
