by JD Davidson
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants Democrats to stop blaming Ohio for the party’s plan to apply virtual voting to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as its presidential candidate.
In a letter to Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harris released Thursday, LaRose demanded that the party stop using the ballot access deadline to justify what he called a nominating system.
“I have seen numerous media reports and interviews over the past week in which you have repeatedly cited Ohio’s August 7 ballot access deadline as justification for your committee’s intention to hold a ‘virtual nominating convention,’” LaRose wrote in the letter. “As you know, the Ohio General Assembly made an exception to the 2024 presidential election ballot access deadline by passing legislation signed by the Governor that temporarily extends it to September 1, 2024.”
The Democratic National Convention Rules Committee voted 157-3 in favor of online voting at a meeting Wednesday. If Harris is the only candidate, the process would begin Aug. 1 and end in seven days. No other candidates have been selected.
Throughout the spring and early summer, Ohio Republicans in the state Capitol failed to advance an extension, prompting Democrats at the state and national levels to express concern that a compromise could not be reached.
In the ongoing national debate Democrats announced In delayed May, it was reported that they planned to nominate President Joe Biden via virtual voting before the Ohio deadline.
Five days laterOn June 3, Governor Mike DeWine signed legislation with an emergency clause that extended the voting deadline to September 1 and banned foreigners from making campaign contributions.
LaRose said in a press release that he had seen several media reports in which Harrison cited Ohio’s primary law as the reason Democrats held a virtual vote.
“As the state’s chief elections officer, I have confirmed with our state’s attorney general that Ohio law does not require the DNC to hold ‘virtual voting’ prior to the planned convention dates in August,” LaRose said. “I am sure your lawyers are fully aware of this, and I suspect that your current rhetoric is part of a plan to replace a sitting president without a contested convention or any democratic process. This is clever, if not entirely at odds with your party’s constant finger-wagging about threats to democracy, but I ask that you stop using Ohio to justify your course of action.”
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for August 19-22 in Chicago, after the original date set by the state.
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Born in Ohio, J.D. Davidson is a seasoned journalist with more than 30 years of experience at newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. Davidson is a regional editor Central Square.
Photo “Frank LaRose” by Frank LaRose. Background of the photo “Voting bags” by Tim Evanson.CC BY-SA 2.0.
