Ohio official knocks Democratic Party over Biden ballot deadline

Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State knocked the Democratic Party in a Sunday opinion piece, over its attempts to fight a ballot deadline issue the party faces in the presidential election.

“The Democratic Party’s antics after its failure to get [President Biden] on the ballot in Ohio are both entertaining and hypocritical,” Frank LaRose (R) said in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, published Sunday. “Since 2020 the political left has decried perceived attempts to manipulate laws governing elections as threats to democracy. If you dared to question the electoral process—or worse, hired a lawyer to challenge it—you’d be politically persecuted as a traitor.”

The Buckeye State requires the certification of presidential nominees by parties 90 days prior to the election. However, the Democratic National Convention, when Democrats will officially nominate the president, is set after the deadline.

“Today’s threat to democracy is apparently me. As Ohio’s chief elections officer, I refuse to bend the rules to benefit a candidate,” LaRose continued in the opinion piece. “Critics allege that my decision to uphold the law will deprive Ohio voters of the opportunity to choose their president. Never mind that I didn’t create this problem, nor do I wish for that outcome.”

LaRose informed Democrats in April that Biden was at risk of being left off the ballot, and Ohio lawmakers had until early May to find a legislative solution to the problem, since it takes 90 days for legislation to go into effect following the governor’s signature. Attempts to find that solution fell through due to Democratic opposition towards pairing the legislative solution with legislation attempting to prohibit foreign nationals from contributing to ballot initiatives.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) then stepped in last week, announcing that he would call a special session for this week to push lawmakers to figure out the Biden ballot problem.

“The purpose of the session will be for the General Assembly to pass legislation ensuring that both major party presidential candidates will be on the Ohio ballot in November, as well as legislation that would prohibit campaign spending by foreign nationals,” the governor said.

In his opinion piece, LaRose said “[u]nable so far to get a legislative fix to the problem they created, Democrats have flipped the script.”

“They used to say refusing to enforce election rules was a threat to democracy; now refusing to bend the rules is a threat,” LaRose continued. 

The Hill has reached out to the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee.