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The Republican secretaries of state in Ohio and Alabama sent letters to local Democratic party chairs this past week with a warning: President Joe Biden, as the law stands now, won’t appear on their states’ ballots in November.

Both secretaries say the president’s nomination won’t occur in time to meet their states’ ballot access deadlines. The Biden campaign has assured reporters that the president will appear on the ballot in all 50 states. 

Why We Wrote This

Election integrity relies heavily on America’s state election officials, yet these roles have grown increasingly politicized. The latest sign is tension over whether two states might leave President Joe Biden off the ballot.

But this year could prove to be a struggle. 

Ohio’s and Alabama’s declarations have been seen by some as a partisan reaction to the unsuccessful effort supported by Colorado’s Democratic secretary of state to keep former President Donald Trump off her state’s ballot. In response, Republican lawmakers in Colorado tried to impeach Secretary Jena Griswold, but their effort failed Tuesday.

The secretary of state role has become increasingly fraught since the 2020 election. Now it may be harder than ever for these officials, whose role calls for impartiality, to be seen as nonpartisan, says Richard Winger, founder of Ballot Access News. 

The Republican secretaries of state in Ohio and Alabama sent letters to local Democratic party chairs this past week with a warning: President Joe Biden, as the law stands now, won’t appear on their states’ ballots in November.

Both secretaries say the president’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago between Aug. 19 and 22 won’t meet their states’ ballot access deadlines, which require candidates’ party certification 82 to 90 days before Election Day.

The Biden campaign has seemed relatively unfazed by the news, assuring reporters that the president will appear on the ballot in all 50 states. Its confidence may be based on recent history. Just four years ago, the Ohio legislature approved changing its deadline to 60 days before the election to accommodate Mr. Biden as well as Donald Trump, when both the Republican and Democratic conventions were held in late August. Similarly, a one-time exception for Mr. Trump passed the Alabama Legislature unanimously in 2020 (with a vote from current Secretary of State Wes Allen, who was in the Alabama House at the time). 

Why We Wrote This

Election integrity relies heavily on America’s state election officials, yet these roles have grown increasingly politicized. The latest sign is tension over whether two states might leave President Joe Biden off the ballot.

But this year could prove to be more of a struggle. 

Ohio’s and Alabama’s declarations have been seen by some as a partisan reaction to the effort supported by Colorado’s Democratic secretary of state to keep Mr. Trump off her state’s ballot because of his role at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 – a decision that was unanimously overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court. In response, Republican lawmakers in Colorado attempted to impeach Secretary Jena Griswold for “abuse of the public trust,” but their effort failed in committee on Tuesday.

The secretary of state role has become increasingly fraught since the 2020 election, when the Trump campaign made many previously under-the-radar election officials the focus of election integrity accusations, causing some to face death threats. Now it may be harder than ever for these statewide election officials, who play a referee-type role that calls for impartiality, to be seen as operating in a nonpartisan manner.

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