Dem
51
GOP
49
Deep red Alabama, one of the states where Joe Biden had a "deadline" problem with making the state's general election ballot, has resolved the matter. By a vote of 93-0, the legislature approved a measure giving him special dispensation, just as they did for Donald Trump 4 years ago. Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) has already signed the measure.
Ohio, on the other hand, hasn't yet managed to figure things out. Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) said that if Biden was to be granted an exception by the legislature, that exception had to be in place by this past Thursday, because absent an "emergency" clause, bills do not take effect for 90 days. Although both chambers of the state legislature grappled with the matter, they could not agree on a single, unified bill, and so the deadline passed without anything being done. The legislature could still rectify the situation by deploying an "emergency" clause, but reportedly things are at an impasse.
The careful reader might take note that there is no chance on God's green Earth that Biden will win Alabama, so there's no real downside to putting him on the ballot there. On the other hand, it's not impossible Biden could win Ohio, since the Democratic candidate has won the state in four of the last eight elections. It's not likely, mind you, but it's not impossible. Meanwhile, how hard is it to figure out "just the right" verbiage to say "The ballot deadline does not apply to Joe Biden in 2024." Heck, Ohio waived the deadline for Trump in 2020. Just get out that bill, cross out "Trump" and "2020" and write in "Biden" and "2024." Done!
In other words, we don't really believe this was a good-faith effort. Biden will end up on the ballot, but it may have to happen at the business end of a court order. Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) said as much on Friday. We don't know why Ohio Republicans apparently want to force that course of action; perhaps they think there's a slim chance Biden won't win in court, or perhaps they think this is an opportunity to "punish" Biden in the same way that Colorado "punished" Trump. We don't know. However, the Ohio GOP could be playing with fire here, since a major theme of the Biden campaign is going to be "Republicans are anti-democracy," and this would serve as a pretty good illustration of that. Plus, it might just piss off a bunch of Ohio Democrats who might not otherwise be motivated to vote. We'll probably learn this week if the Ohio legislature is going to do something or not. (Z)