This decision was made before the Ohio Senate addressed Biden appearing on the ballot.
The Democratic National Committee will hold a virtual proceeding to certify President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as Democratic Party candidates before August 1 in Ohio. 7 ballot certification deadline, and before their in-person convention which begins in August. 19, the party confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday.
This could take Biden and the Democratic Party away from an important moment, as the formal nomination at the convention is historically greeted with fanfare and celebration, but Biden will become the official nominee virtually, perhaps without the typical pomp and circumstance. The campaign indicated that while there will be a virtual call and nomination of Biden and Harris, the DNC will still hold in-person ceremonies for each process at its convention during the week of August. 19 in Chicago.
The move came moments before the Ohio Senate meets Tuesday for a special session to consider Biden’s ability to appear on the ballot for the state’s general election in November — which the Legislature The GOP-led government has linked it to a campaign finance effort, something Democrats do. to oppose. The bill passed the Ohio Senate on Tuesday without any Democratic support.
DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison said Democrats would tackle the conflict themselves and “land this plane ourselves.”
“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio and all 50 states, and Ohio Republicans agree. But when the time came to act, they failed to act every time, so Democrats will land this plane on our own,” he said. . in a statement provided to ABC News.
“Through a virtual call, we will ensure that Republicans cannot undermine our democracy through incompetence or partisan trickery and that Ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice,” added Harrison.
The Republican governor of Ohio. Mike DeWine continues to advocate for a legislative solution to ballot access issues.
“While I understand that the Democratic National Committee just proposed a workaround today to help President Biden appear on the Ohio ballot, it is prudent that legislation be passed to accomplish this. As I said before, we don’t want to leave something like this “It’s as simple as putting the President of the United States on the ballot, when it can and should be done legislatively. ” DeWine said in a statement.
“For these reasons, it is important that one or more bills implementing these common-sense measures arrive immediately at my desk this week. It’s the right thing to do,” DeWine added.
Ohio Democratic Chair Liz Walters said the party would not trade “the ability of Ohioans to hold their government accountable for presidential ballot access.”
“Once again, Republican politicians in the Legislature are playing politics with our democracy,” she said in a statement. “Just like when they tried to strip us of our rights and freedoms last year, Ohio Republicans have shown their blatant disregard for voters’ rights, and we will not let them get away with it. new attempt to take our democracy hostage.”
Neither the party nor the Biden campaign have confirmed a date when this virtual nomination could take place, but it will certainly be before August 1. 7 Ohio ballot certification deadline.
To proceed with the virtual call, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee will need to vote on a resolution on Tuesday, June 4, proposing changes to the call to allow for virtual party deliberations. Then, in the coming weeks, the resolution will be voted on by all DNC members. Once the resolution is passed, the remainder of the pre-nomination process will follow the standard order of operations.