The elections chief in Alabama has said that Joe Biden might not be able to be on the ballot because the state’s deadline for certification is before the Democratic Party’s convention.
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, who is a Republican, said this on Tuesday. The day before, a similar worry was mentioned in Ohio about Biden being left off the ballot there.
Allen wrote a letter to Randy Kelley, who is in charge of the Alabama Democratic Party. In the letter, Allen mentioned that the deadline for certifying the state’s election results is four days before the Democratic National Convention starts. Allen said that Biden’s name won’t be on the ballot unless they meet the deadline.
Allen wrote that if the Office doesn’t get a valid nomination certificate from the Democratic Party on time, he won’t be able to approve the names of their candidates for President and Vice President to be put on the ballot for the 2024 general election.
In Alabama, the names of people running for president must be given in 82 days before the election.
In 2020, the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature changed the deadline for certifying the 2020 election. The bill said that the change was being made to fit the dates of the 2020 Republican National Convention.
The due date was changed to be a week earlier that year. It was a change that only happened once and only affected that year.
Allen did not talk about making new laws in his letter to Kelley. He told Kelley to call his office if he had any questions.
Kelley talked to the DNC on Tuesday night to see if they could help with the issue.