(The Center Square) – Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is calling on Democrats to stop criticizing the state over their plan to use virtual voting to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
In a letter to Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harris, LaRose called on the party to stop using the state’s polling deadline to justify its nomination plans.
“I have watched numerous media reports and interviews over the past week in which you repeatedly cite Ohio’s August 7 ballot deadline as the basis for the committee’s intent to hold a ‘virtual nominating convention,'” LaRose wrote in the letter. “As you know, the Ohio Legislature carved out an exception to the ballot deadline for the 2024 presidential election, passing a bill signed by the Governor that temporarily extended the deadline until September 1, 2024.”
The Democratic National Convention’s Rules Committee passed the online vote 157-3 during a meeting Wednesday.
If Harris is the sole candidate, the process would begin on Aug. 1 and be completed within seven days. No other candidates have yet emerged.
Throughout the spring and early summer, Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly were unable to pass an extension bill, and state and national Democrats expressed concern that a compromise would not be reached.
Amid the ongoing debates, national Democrats announced plans in late May to nominate President-elect Joe Biden via a virtual roll call ahead of Ohio’s deadline.
Five days later, on June 3, Governor Mike DeWine signed a bill that extended the voting deadline until September 1 and included emergency provisions banning foreign nationals from making contributions to election campaigns.
LaRose said in a news release that he had seen several media reports indicating Harrison cited Ohio’s original law as a reason for Democrats to hold a virtual roll call.
“As the state’s top election official, I have checked with the Ohio Attorney General and found that Ohio law does not require a ‘virtual roll call’ to be held prior to the August dates of the Democratic National Convention,” LaRose said.
“I am sure your lawyers are well aware of this fact, and I suspect your current rhetorical posturing is part of a plot to replace a sitting president without a convention or any kind of democratic process. It is subtle, if not entirely at odds with your party’s relentless denunciations of threats to democracy. But please stop using the state of Ohio to justify your course of action.”
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held in Chicago from Aug. 19-22, past the state’s original deadline.
