Another state threatens to kick Biden clear off the ballot
The November election is fast approaching. But it could be over before it ever starts.
Because another state threatened to kick Biden clear off the ballot.
The Left spent months trying to convince Americans and, more importantly to them, federal judges that Trump could not be allowed on the ballot.
Why? Because of section 3 of the 14th Amendment which prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States from holding office.
This was originally meant to bar former Confederate soldiers who fought against the Union in the Civil War from holding office in Congress or the White House.
Over time, that section has gone unused. That is, until Democrats tried to claim that Trump engaged in insurrection on January 6th.
Thankfully, the Supreme Court put an end to the idea that Trump could be held off the ballot for federal office by states without an act of Congress.
Now, Biden is getting a taste of his own medicine, but for a different reason.
Alabama’s top elections official warned Tuesday that President Biden’s name could be left off state ballots in November because his candidacy as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer will not be recognized until after a critical deadline.
Alabama is at least the second state where Biden, 81, may not appear on presidential ballots due to the timing of his formal nomination for re-election.
“It has recently come to my attention that the Democratic National Convention is currently scheduled to convene on August 19, 2024, which is after the State of Alabama’s statutory deadline for political parties to provide a certificate of nomination for President and Vice President on August 15, 2024,” Republican Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen wrote in a letter to state Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley and Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison.
Alabama law requires political parties to certify their candidates “no later than the 82nd day preceding the date fixed for the election.”
“If this Office has not received a valid certificate of nomination from the Democratic Party following its convention by the statutory deadline, I will be unable to certify the names of the Democratic Party’s candidates for President and Vice President for ballot preparation for the 2024 general election,” Allen said.
A Biden campaign official told the New York Post that Alabama is expected to offer the president provisional ballot access certification, as numerous states did for Biden and former President Donald Trump in 2020.
“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” a Biden campaign spokeswoman stated.
“State officials have the ability to grant provisional ballot access certification prior to the conclusion of presidential nominating conventions.”
“In 2020 alone, states like Alabama, Illinois, Montana, and Washington all allowed provisional certification for Democratic and Republican nominees.”
The letter comes after an Ohio elections official issued a similar warning to state Democrats last week, informing them that the president faces being left off ballots in the Buckeye State unless the Democratic National Convention is pushed sooner or an “exception” is provided for Biden.
In Ohio, a similar scenario occurred prior to the 2020 election, when both the Republican and Democratic conventions were planned after the state’s ballot deadline, prompting state lawmakers to pass a one-time amendment in state law that moved the cutoff date to 60 days before the general election.
Last month, a Florida Atlantic University/Mainstreet Research poll saw Trump leading Biden by 11 percentage points in Ohio and 20 points in Alabama.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
