Alabama lawmakers approve legislation to ensure President Biden is on the November ballot
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to legislation to ensure President Joe Biden will appear on the state’s November ballot, mirroring adjustments the state made four years ago for then-President Donald Trump.
The House of Representatives voted 93-0 in favor of the legislation. It now goes to Republican Governor Kay Ivey for her signature. Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola said the governor will sign the bill into law.
“This is a great day in Alabama as we passed this legislation in bipartisan fashion to ensure President Joe Biden has access to the vote in Alabama,” said Democratic state Sen. Merika Coleman, the bill’s sponsor. The Alabama legislature passed the bill without a dissenting vote.
The issue of access to Biden’s ballots has arisen in Alabama and Ohio as the states’ early certification deadlines fall before the Democratic National Convention begins on August 19. Republican secretaries of state warned that Biden might not appear on state ballots.
Alabama has one of the earliest deadlines for candidate certification in the country, which has caused problems for every political party that has the later convention date that year.
Trump faced the same problem in Alabama in 2020. Alabama’s Republican-controlled Legislature has passed legislation to change the certification deadline for the 2020 election to accommodate the GOP convention date.
“This is nothing new. We just need to fix this so the president can be on the ballot just like our candidate can be on the ballot,” Republican House Speaker Chris Pringle said during the brief debate.
The Alabama legislation will delay the state’s certification deadline from 82 days before the general election to 74 days to accommodate the date of the Democrats’ nominating convention.
The Biden campaign has said they are confident the president will be on the ballot in all 50 states.
A lawsuit would be almost a certainty if Alabama Republicans had refused to grant Biden access to the ballot after making adjustments to GOP nominees in the past. The Biden campaign asked Alabama to accept preliminary certification, saying it has been done before in Alabama and other states. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said he would not accept the provisional certification because he did not believe he had the authority to do so.
In Ohio, the state elections chief has said the Republican-led Legislature has until Thursday to approve an exception to the state’s 90-day rule, which sets this year’s voting deadline at Aug. 7. There doesn’t appear to be a bill in the works, but state leaders in both parties have not yet completely ruled out one. The state House and Senate both have voting sessions scheduled for Wednesday.
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Associated Press writer Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.