The Republican leader of the Ohio Senate says President Biden will be on this fall's ballot in Ohio. But the question is how and when that will happen.
President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said Biden will be listed on the ballot, even though the Democratic Party's convention in Chicago is scheduled after the 90-day candidate certification deadline set in state law. The convention is set for Aug. 19-22, and Ohio's presidential candidate certification deadline is Aug. 7.
House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) told reporters Tuesday that he’d like to see a permanent change to the state law, passed in 2010.
“The Republicans might fall under this situation in the future," Stephens said.
But so far, there's been no legislative solution proposed.
"I would like to think through it and make sure that we get a solution that takes care of this issue four years from now, eight years from now....so we won't have to deal with that," Stephens said.
House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said she also preferred a legislative solution.
“Continuing to do this temporarily is just setting us up for this to come up again in the future," Russo said.
Russo said there are several options for how to handle this dilemma.
"Obviously the legislative approach is not the only approach," Russo said.
Statewide, Democrats have deferred much of the conversation about how to solve the problem to the national party. But if lawmakers want to solve the problem, they will need to take action soon.
Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose has said a legislative fix needs to happen by May 9, but lawmakers are preparing to go on summer break. Since 2010, the legislature has moved the deadline when both parties' conventions were after the deadline for presidential elections in 2012 and 2020.
