Staff Reports
Alabama officials made sure on Thursday that President Joe Biden will be on the state’s November ballot, much like they did for former President Donald Trump four years ago.
In a unanimous decision, the House of Representatives voted 93-0 for the legislation. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey promptly signed the bill into law the same day.
“This is a wonderful day in Alabama as we passed this legislation in a bipartisan manner to guarantee that President Joe Biden gains access to the ballot in Alabama,” said Democratic state Sen. Merika Coleman, who sponsored the bill. The Republican-dominated Alabama Legislature approved the bill without a dissenting vote.
Alabama lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to legislation to ensure President Joe Biden will appear on the state’s November ballot, mirroring accommodations the state made four years ago for then-President Donald Trump.
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The concern about President Biden’s ballot access in Alabama and Ohio arose due to the states’ early certification deadlines falling before the Democratic National Convention begins on Aug. 19. Republican secretaries of state had cautioned that Biden might not appear on state ballots.
Alabama has one of the earliest candidate certification deadlines in the country, creating challenges for whichever political party has the later convention date that year.
Like President Biden, former President Trump faced this issue in Alabama in 2020. The Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature passed legislation to alter the certification deadline for the 2020 election to accommodate the date of the GOP convention.
The recently passed Alabama legislation will change the state’s certification deadline from 82 days before the general election to 74 days to accommodate the date of the Democrats’ nominating convention.
Litigation was almost a certainty if Alabama Republicans had declined to grant President Biden ballot access after making accommodations in the past for GOP nominees. The Biden campaign asked Alabama to accept provisional certification, saying that has been done previously in Alabama and other states. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said he would not accept provisional certification because he didn’t think he had the authority to do so.
In Ohio, the state elections chief has said the Republican-led Legislature has until Thursday to approve an exemption to the state’s 90-day rule, which sets this year’s ballot deadline at Aug. 7. No bill appears to be forthcoming. Still, leaders of both parties haven’t entirely ruled one out. The state House and Senate both have voting sessions scheduled for Wednesday.
