Alabama legislators approve measure enabling Biden's inclusion on the state's fall election ballot.
Alabama's Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday, moving the state's certification deadline for presidential candidates from 82 days before the election to 74 days. This change would allow Democrats to submit Joe Biden's name after he officially becomes the nominee at their convention. Last week, the state Senate had passed the legislation, and Governor Kay Ivey has indicated her intention to sign it. This move would help prevent a potentially contentious legal battle between Democrats and state officials over the issue of certification timing.
In late April, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen notified Democrats and the Democratic National Committee that the timing of their national convention could conflict with the state's certification deadline of August 15. The convention is scheduled for August 19-22, while the Republican convention will take place in July. Allen warned that filing Biden's name after the deadline would be a violation of Alabama law. This came after Ohio election officials flagged the possibility of a timeline conflict due to their August 7 deadline for certifying presidential candidates.
In the past, certification deadline conflicts have been resolved through legislative action or by accepting provisional certifications. In 2016, when the Republican convention took place a week after Alabama's deadline, Allen's predecessor, also a Republican, accepted a provisional certification from the national GOP. Democrats also submitted a provisional certification. However, Allen has stated that state law doesn't allow for provisional certification.
Ohio's situation is more uncertain. Its legislature would need to pass a bill by May 9 to move the deadline, as the state requires parties to submit their nominees 90 days before the general election. Ohio's Republican State Senate president, Matt Huffman, remains optimistic that Biden will be on the ballot, either through legislation or by involving federal courts. He referenced the US Supreme Court's March decision to keep Trump on the primary ballot in Colorado, despite a state court ruling that he violated the insurrection clause of the 14th amendment. "The federal court is not going to allow the state of Ohio to say you can't have Joe Biden on the ballot," Huffman said during a podcast appearance. "That's just not going to happen."
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Source: edition.cnn.com
