by Elyse Apel
Election laws in all seven key battleground states will allow Democrats to put Vice President Kamala Harris’ name on the ballot, or another candidate if one emerges.
As President Joe Biden’s supporters rally around Harris to take his place as the party’s nominee, Republicans are planning legal challenges. Biden announced his decision via social media on Sunday afternoon, a month before the Aug. 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada are commonly referred to as swing states. They have a combined 93 electoral votes.
There has been no opposition to Harris on social media since Sunday’s announcement, Democratic delegates across the country moved quickly to drum up support from the primary, where voters secured enough delegates for Biden.
Patrick Gannon, director of public information for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said state law will reflect the change.
“District Election Commissions [in North Carolina] “We will begin sending absentee ballots to voters who have requested them on September 6, which I believe will be the earliest in the country,” Gannon told The Center Square in an email.
He added that after the convention is held and candidates are nominated, ballots in North Carolina will be prepared.
“Generally speaking, our agency requests that candidate names be provided to us by mid-August so that there is ample time to prepare, review and print ballots before the September 6 absentee ballot distribution deadline. We should be able to accommodate the Democratic convention schedule, especially since we know that every ballot will have a Democratic Party line on it and we are simply waiting for the names to be entered before the ballots are printed,” he said.
North Carolinawhich has 16 electoral votes, has been won by Republicans in all but two of the last 14 cycles.
The conservative think tank Heritage Foundation has promised to sue Biden if is out.
While Marguerite Bowling, senior communications manager, told The Center Square in an email that “the team is holding off on responding to any media requests at this time,” more information is likely to come from The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.
“We have been preparing for this moment for months. Many in the media have tried to discredit us. Who is laughing now? No more “improvised on the fly” elections. Stay alert…”, said the Supervision Project in a statement posted on social media after Biden’s decision was announced.
Because Biden withdrew before he became the official Democratic Party nominee, Make it easier replace it than if it had occurred after the Democratic National Convention.
According to Matt Heckel, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of State, Pennsylvania is the undecided state with the most electoral votes (19), and a up-to-date candidate will have no problem getting on the ballot.
“Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Election Code, the presidential and vice presidential candidates elected at the Democratic National Convention will appear on the general election ballot as the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates,” Heckel told The Center Square in an email. “Because the 2024 Democratic National Convention has not yet taken place, no candidates have been elected to appear on the November ballot.”
It’s the same in Wisconsinwhere the Democratic Party has until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 3, to notify the Wisconsin Election Commission of its candidates for president and vice president.
Riley Vetterkind, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Election Commission, confirmed the information to The Center Square.
In other battleground states:
• Michigan (15 Electoral College votes):A presidential candidate must be nominated within one business day of the party’s state or national convention, whichever is later. Ballots will be prepared beginning September 6.
“Presidential candidates are eligible to participate in the Michigan general election based on the results of their party’s nominating conventions,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement..
• Arizona (11):The Democratic nominee can be changed up to 75 days before the election, on August 22.
• Georgia (11):Candidates must be registered 60 days before election day, which falls on September 6.
• Nevada (six): Democrats normally have until the fourth Friday in July, or July 26, to nominate their candidates. However, due to an amendment passed in September 2023, the major political parties now have until the first business day in September to submit their names. This year, that’s September 3.
– – –
Elyse Apel is a trainee reporter Central Squarecovering Georgia and North Carolina. She is a 2024 graduate of Hillsdale College.
Photo “Kamala Harris” by Vice President Kamala Harris. Background of the photo “Voting bags” by Tim Evanson.CC BY-SA 2.0.
