The Democratic National Committee (DNC) plans to hold a “virtual roll call” to nominate Joe Biden before the party’s August convention, aiming to secure his place on Ohio’s general election ballot. The announcement arrived Tuesday as the Ohio State Legislature commenced a special session ordered by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to address the issue.
The Democratic convention, traditionally where candidates for president and vice president are nominated, is scheduled after Ohio’s August 7 deadline for certifying candidates. Ohio GOP lawmakers, holding supermajorities in both the House and Senate, have been hesitant to pass a bill relaxing this deadline for Biden without introducing unrelated campaign finance legislation, which Democrats have labeled a “poison pill.”
The DNC’s rules and bylaws committee is expected to vote on June 4 to allow the virtual roll call. Following this, DNC members will vote on the resolution, enabling a virtual nomination process. Officials have compared this approach to the virtual convention conducted in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Initially, the Biden campaign and DNC resisted initiating such plans. Historically, both parties have resolved Ohio’s certification deadlines without controversy before their nominating conventions. However, DeWine’s call for the special session included addressing a measure to ban foreign money in state ballot issue campaigns alongside the Biden ballot fix. This measure, previously appended to a state Senate version of the Biden-related bill, saw no vote in the state House, precipitating the current urgency.
Nickie Antonio, the Democratic leader in the Ohio Senate, announced the change in strategy, reassuring Democrats that Biden will be on the ballot regardless of state legislative actions. Reports that the timing of the Democratic convention may have prevented Biden from getting on the Ohio ballot first surfaced in April.
