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Please, There Are Many Reasons Why Biden Should Be Our Candidate. Ballot Timing Isn't One Of Them [1]

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Date: 2024-07-21  

It has been suggested that it is too late to put anyone on the ballot except President Biden and Vice President Harris. This suggestion has been made not only here on Daily Kos and elsewhere, but also by some members of Congress and some Democratic officials. This assertion is wrong, and injecting it into the discussion is a disservice to Democrats. Here is why.

At the outset, it is important to understand that the Democratic Party has not officially named it’s candidates for President and Vice President. Yes, we had primaries in which people voted for their favorite candidate, almost always President Biden, but those votes were actually for the delegates who were pledged to the favorite candidate. The official nomination of our candidates will not occur until the convention at which time those delegates cast their ballots. When our candidates become the official nominees of the Democratic Party, their names will be transmitted to the states to be placed on the ballots.

These matters are governed by state laws, all of which vary, but none of which has a deadline that is before the end of the Deocratic convention. Generally speaking, each state has two deadlines. The first is for a party to get on the ballot. In each of the 50 states the Democratic Party is on the ballot. The second deadline is for the party to place its nominees for President and Vice President on its ballot. The deadline for that in each state is days or weeks after each party’s convention. The Democratic Party will not complete its convention until the middle of August. At that time it has days or in some states weeks to provide the names of its two candidates to each state.

Earlier this year, there were two states, Ohio and Alabama, that had deadlines that were before the end of the Democratic convention. Both of those states have since changed their laws. The Alabama change was straightforward. With Ohio, there is some confusion about its change. That confusion arose because of the effective date of the change. The Ohio Constitution provides that all laws have a 90 day delayed effective date. Since the law making the change was signed on June 2, the effective date is not until August 31, which is after the Democratic convention. However, the drafters of the law were mindful of this requirement and gave the Democratic Party until September 2 or 3, depending on how you count, to file the names of its candidates.

For all his other flaws, Ohio governor DeWine was steadfast in his determination to correct the Ohio law. He bucked many in his party by calling a special session to insist that the deadline be changed. He did not want Ohio law to pose an impediment to the Democratic Party, either in the form of the party having to litigate or having to take other steps such as virtual convention in advance of the regularly scheduled convention.

Some people have said that the Republicans will file suits regarding this issue in Ohio and elsewhere challenging any nominee. This has been implied by members of Congress and others and asserted as a basis for not changing our nominee or for having a virtual nomination before the convention. Well, as the saying goes, anyone with the filing fee can file a lawsuit. That does not mean they have any chance of winning. And the Republicans threaten lawsuits every time Democrats breathe. They filed about 60 after the 2020 election and lost them all. If we are to live in fear of those threats, we might as well pack up our tents and go home.

There may be very many good reasons to have a virtual convention to nominate our candidates before the regular convention. But the decision to hold such a virtual convention should not be made on the basis of misrepresentations or cowardess. If we do it, let's do it for valid reasons.

We claim to be a reality based community. We should debate on the basis of policy differences and opinions. But we should never make decisions based on misrepresentations or fear.

Addendum: I should note that there are separate deadline in the state laws for an individual not associated with a party to get his or her name on the ballot. That matter is not relevant here. However, I think people may be misreading the law in these states to suggest that earlier deadline is the deadline that the Democrats face for their candidate. That, of course, is nonsense and represents an uncareful reading of the law.

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