Earlier this year, state lawmakers extended a deadline to ensure the Democratic presidential candidate appears on Ohio’s ballot in the fall.
But due to a move the Democrats had already decided on weeks ago, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign submitted its documents to the Secretary of State’s office on time.
State law requires the deadline for presidential confirmation to be 90 days before the general election, which this year would be Aug. 7. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin Aug. 19, and that’s the day candidates are usually officially nominated. But that’s nearly two weeks after the 90-day deadline. After weeks of debate but no bill from state lawmakers, Gov. Mike DeWine ordered a special session in May to move that deadline and pass a ban on foreign nationals donating to campaigns — targeting the redistricting amendment that will be on the ballot in the fall.
The 90-day deadline has been extended for three of the four presidential elections since it was introduced in 2010. The deadline was extended for the 2012 and 2020 elections because both parties held conventions after that date. This time, only the Democrats were affected.
But in the end, that move didn’t matter. Katie Seewer of the Ohio Democratic Party said delegates voted in a virtual ballot earlier this week to officially nominate Harris, in time to submit paperwork by the original Aug. 7 deadline.
“We’ve obviously had to deal with a lot of Republican tricks in recent years, so we thought it was better to be safe than sorry,” Seewer said.
Dan Lusheck, deputy press secretary in the Office of the Secretary of State, confirmed that the DNC submitted its nomination certificate by the original Aug. 7 deadline.
“We will review their documents for legal compliance and notify the political party if it meets the requirements to be on the ballot. Parties using a national convention to nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidates have until September 1 to submit these certifications to our office,” Luscheck said in a written statement.
Last week, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a letter to DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison urging party leadership to stop using Ohio as a reason for a virtual nominating convention. Harrison had said the virtual roll call was necessary because the change in Ohio does not take effect until Sept. 1 and there were concerns about looming lawsuits from Republicans that could disenfranchise Democratic voters in Ohio.
