President Joe Biden will appear on the Alabama ballot in November, after Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation to delay the state certification deadline for accommodate your official appointment at the Democratic National Convention.
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen told the Democrats in April that he would “be unable to certify” the Democratic presidential ticket if the party did not submit a nomination certification by Aug. 15, or 82 days before the general election, as required by state law. O DNC is scheduled will take place in Chicago from August 19th to 22nd.
Biden’s campaign called on Allen to allow provisional voting access, but the first-term Republican told CNN that there was no such thing under state law.
Legislation to delay the certification deadline from 82 to 74 days quickly passed through the Republican-controlled Legislature, and Ivey signed it on Thursday. The accommodation means Democrats avoided what could have been a disruptive legal battle over voting access in a deep-red state.
Alabama lawmakers have also made unique adjustments to presidential bids in the past. In 2020, they passed a bill to change that year’s deadline so that then-President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence could be certified.
Ohio’s secretary of state issued a similar warning that Biden could miss the state’s deadline to go to the polls. The Associated Press reports that there does not yet appear to be a state bill to exempt this year’s deadline, but neither party has ruled out that possibility.
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
