The Democratic National Committee (DNC) plans to nominate President Joe Biden virtually as the party’s presidential nominee ahead of their convention in August.
Under Ohio law, political parties must certify their presidential and vice presidential nominees at least 90 days before an election. However, the Democrat Party’s convention is set for August 19-22, around 75 days before the November election.
Harrison explained that the Democrat Party would nominate Biden through a “virtual roll call” to “ensure that Republicans can’t chip away at our democracy through incompetence or partisan tricks.”
Lawmakers in Ohio convened for a special session on Tuesday to discuss Biden’s appearance on the ballot, days after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) called for the session.
Ohio Senate Republicans had passed a bill to ensure Biden appeared on the ballot, while also preventing “foreign contributions to ballot issue campaigns,” according to CBS News.
The Hill added:
The state House had worked on a more permanent solution to change the certification deadline, but ultimately neither of those bills was officially voted on in the lower chamber.
Liz Walters, chairwoman of the Ohio Democratic Party, criticized Republicans, saying they had “played politics with our democracy.”
News of the Democrat Party’s decision to virtually nominate Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris comes after reports indicated the Democrats have considered holding a virtual convention to avoid pro-Palestinian protests over the Biden administration’s handling of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
