俄亥俄州议员周二召开特别会议，讨论总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)能否出现在11月的大选中。民主党全国委员会表示，他们将采取行动虚拟当事人诉讼认证拜登和副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯为民主党提名人——这一举措在俄亥俄州选票认证截止日期前后生效。
俄亥俄州的参议院共和党人最终通过了一项法案，该法案既允许拜登出现在11月的大选中，又禁止外国对选票问题的竞选活动提供捐助。后者是对共和党去年反对“问题1”运动的直接回应，该运动在宪法上保护该州的堕胎。然而，此举没有得到民主党的支持，民主党全国委员会宣布后，议员们似乎有权投票反对这项立法。
“我们不需要你的修理。民主党全国委员会几分钟前刚刚发表声明说，我们将在全国各地举行代表虚拟投票，并提名拜登总统参加投票，”州参议员比尔·德莫拉周二表示。“我们不想要一个让大多数人随心所欲地控制选民及其权利的立法修正案。”
拜登的俄亥俄州的投票情况一直不明朗因为总统的正式政党提名和州选举认证截止日期有冲突。民主党全国委员会举行虚拟提名的举措绕过了该州对选票准入的担忧。
俄亥俄州法律规定，政党必须在8月7日大选前90天确认他们的总统候选人。虽然在截止日期之后的8月19日民主党全国委员会召开会议之前，拜登不会成为正式提名人，但虚拟提名有助于确保拜登在8月7日截止日期之前获得提名。
俄亥俄州参议员周二通过的立法将最后期限延长至民主党全国委员会之后的74天，即8月23日。众议院仍需要承担该法案。
俄亥俄州的共和党州长迈克·德温仍然敦促对选票准入问题进行立法补救。
“虽然我知道民主党全国委员会今天刚刚提出了一个解决办法，以帮助拜登总统参加俄亥俄州的投票，但通过立法来完成这项工作是谨慎的。正如我先前所说，我们不希望把美国现任总统的选举这样基本的事情留给其他人去做，而这是可以而且应该通过立法来做的。这是应该做的事情，”德温在一份声明中说。
“出于这些原因，一项或多项实现这些常识性措施的法案必须在本周马上送到我的办公桌上，这一点很重要。这是应该做的事情，”德温补充道。
俄亥俄州参议院周二只审议了一项法案，该法案既解决了拜登的选票问题，又禁止外国捐助竞选活动。民主党人反对俄亥俄州共和党人在特别会议期间投票推动这两个问题通过的努力，认为共和党已经制定了一项立法措施来解决选票认证问题，这是一项政治措施，在以前的选举周期中两党都获得了这一措施。
“这次特别会议和这两项法案的结合是一场政治交易，旨在试图为拜登总统参加投票付出一些代价，”众议院民主党党鞭Dani Isaacsohn在周二上午的众议院政府监督委员会会议上说。
共和党人否认了他们在试图将这些问题结合起来时存在“党派偏见”的说法。
“哪一方是真正的党派?因为如果我们都同意外国对我们选举的干预和贡献是一个问题，那么为什么有人会对这个法案投反对票呢?”共和党参议员罗布·麦科利说。
俄亥俄州是拜登今年11月没有资格参加投票的唯一一个州。阿拉巴马州也遇到了选票证明和拜登正式提名之间的冲突，但他们的立法机构在5月份一致通过了一项解决方案，随后由共和党州长凯·艾维签署。
“事实上，我们不能像阿拉巴马州和这次必须处理这个问题的任何其他州一样，只是通过一项干净的法案，让拜登参加投票，并处理所有其他问题...分开。但将它们放在一起对我们所有人来说都是令人心痛的事情，”参议院少数党领袖、民主党人尼基·安东尼奥周二在议会上说。
上周，德温敦促召开特别会议，从立法上解决这个问题。
然而，德温也支持共和党领导的倡议，禁止外国资金参与发行活动。
拜登竞选团队坚称，总统将“出现在所有50个州的选票上”。
“一次又一次的选举，全国各州都按照两党共识行事，并采取必要措施确保两党提名的总统候选人出现在选票上。这次选举也不例外——得到共和党全力支持的阿拉巴马州和华盛顿州已经采取行动，确保选民能够行使权利，在11月投票给他们选择的候选人，”拜登竞选活动发言人查尔斯·鲁特瓦克(Charles Lutvak)在给美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)的一份声明中说。
Ohio Senate passes GOP-led Biden ballot access bill without Democrats' support
As Ohio lawmakers convened on Tuesday for a special session to address President Joe Biden's ability to appear on their general election ballot in November, the Democratic National Committee said it would move to conductvirtual party proceedingsto certify Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party nominees -- a move that works around Ohio's ballot certification deadline.
Ohio's Senate Republicans ultimately passed a bill that would both allow Biden to appear on their general election ballot in November, but also bar foreign contributions to ballot issue campaigns. The latter was a direct response to GOP objections to the "Issue 1" campaign last year that constitutionally protected abortion in the state. The move came without Democratic support, however, with members seemingly empowered to vote against the legislation following the DNC announcement.
"We don't need your fix. The DNC just released a statement several minutes ago that says we're going to hold a virtual vote of our delegates across the country and nominate President Biden to the ballot," State Sen. Bill DeMora said on Tuesday. "We don't want a legislative fix that holds the voters and their rights to the whim of the majority."
Biden'sballot access had been uncertain in Ohiobecause of a conflict over the president's official party nomination and state election certification deadlines. The DNC's move to hold virtual nominations bypasses the ballot access concerns in the state.
Ohio law mandates that political parties confirm their presidential candidates 90 days before the general election -- on Aug. 7. While Biden wouldn't have been the official nominee until the DNC convenes on Aug. 19, after the deadline -- however the virtual nomination helps ensure that Biden is nominated before the Aug. 7 deadline.
The legislation Ohio Senators passed Tuesday extended the deadline to 74 days, which is Aug. 23, following the DNC. The House still needs to take up the bill.
Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine still urges a legislative remedy to the ballot access concerns.
"While I understand the Democratic National Committee has just today proposed a work-around to help get President Biden on the Ohio ballot, it is prudent legislation be passed to get this done. As I previously said, we do not want to leave something so basic as having the sitting President of the United States on the ballot to others when this can-and should-be done legislatively. It's the right thing to do," DeWine said in a statement.
"For these reasons, it is important that a bill or multiple bills that accomplish these common-sense measures come to my desk right away this week. It's the right thing to do," DeWine added.
The Ohio Senate on Tuesday considered just one bill that combined both the ballot issue fix for Biden and also the banning of foreign contributions to issue campaigns. Democrats had objected to Ohio Republicans' efforts to vote push the two issues through during the special session, arguing that the GOP has made a legislative fix to address ballot certification -- a measure that has been granted to both parties in previous election cycles -- a political one.
"This special session and the combination of these two bills is a political trade made to try and extract some price to be paid for President Biden being on the ballot," said House Democratic Whip Dani Isaacsohn during a House Government Oversight Committee meeting on Tuesday morning.
Republicans have denied the assertion that they were being "partisan" in trying to combine the issues.
"Which side is really being partisan? Because if we all agree that foreign election interference and foreign contributions into our elections are a problem, then why would somebody vote no on this bill?" said Republican Sen. Rob McColley.
Ohio is the only state where Biden would not qualify to be on the ballot this November. Alabama had also encountered conflicts between their ballot certification and Biden's official nomination, but their legislature unanimously passed a fix in May that was then signed by Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican.
"The fact that we couldn't -- like Alabama and any other state that had to deal with the issue this time -- just pass a clean bill and put Biden on the ballot and deal with all the other issues ... separately. But to put them together has been the thing of heartburn for all of us," said Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, a Democrat, Tuesday on the floor.
The special session to fix the issue legislatively was urged by DeWine last week.
DeWine also endorsed the GOP-led initiative to bar foreign money from issue campaigns, however.
The Biden campaign has maintained that the president will "be on the ballot in all 50 states."
"Election after election, states across the country have acted in line with the bipartisan consensus and taken the necessary steps to ensure the presidential nominees from both parties will be on the ballot. And this election is no different -- Alabama, with full Republican support, and Washington State are already taking action to ensure that voters can exercise their right to vote for the candidate of their choice in November," Charles Lutvak, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, said in a statement to ABC News.
