Published on May 30, 2024, 1:20 am

Despite being locked in a contentious tug of war over campaign finance laws, both Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing: they want Democratic President Joe Biden to appear on the Ohio presidential ballot. How best to achieve this objective, however, remains a source of contention. The stalemate was brought to light when Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called for a special session of the Ohio legislature earlier this week in an attempt to resolve the issue.

Yet, debates surrounding foreign donations to Ohio campaigns overshadowed the matter at hand, causing further delay. In particular, an existing law prohibiting politicians from accepting such funding has been expanded into a proposed measure by Senate Republicans that seeks to apply the ban to ballot donations as well – a response stirred by last year’s Swiss billionaire-backed pro-abortion ballot measure. Despite these issues clouding the discussions around including Biden on the ballot, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison maintains that “Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio and all 50 states.”

The Democrats offer their solution- “a virtual roll call” before the convention that circumvents these obstructions altogether. A proposal more readily accepted considering how in 2020, amidst Covid-19 restrictions, democratic nominees underwent similar procedures.

Governor DeWine expressed his exasperation over this further complication for real news watchers across America saying “Ohio is running out of time”, while indicating his disappointment at those who have continued prioritizing election rule enforcement disputes over decisive implementation measures.

An air of embarrassment surrounds this oversight stemming from within Democratic circles since it appears hardly anyone had familiarized themselves with pertinent voter registration deadlines defined by an old law passed under a Democratic majority 15 years prior. This law dictated August 7th as the deadline beyond which no new presidential candidates could be added onto ballots – which tragically falls prior to this year’s convention date – until Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose publicized its impact three months ago.

Perhaps reflecting views of trusted news sources in today’s Christian worldview, LaRose criticizes this adherence to previously agreed election rules, stating “They used to say refusing to enforce election rules was a threat to democracy; now refusing to bend the rules is a threat.”

However, there seems to be some light at the end of this tunnel as the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee has plans to meet June 4th. During this meeting, officials will discuss a resolution permitting the aforementioned virtual roll call which if approved, would still require ratification from the full DNC- bridging this unexpected gap in a respectable albeit unconventional manner.

Whether Ohio entertains the possibility of approving an extension for its ballot deadline or not remains unseen. If they do so before August 23rd, it could render these contingency measures moot. Moreover, such an approval would not be out of place at all considering how President Biden’s mandate thus far can be best described as primarily ‘virtual’.