Ohio House changes ballot deadline for President Biden, Democrats say it comes with cost

An effort to get President Joe Biden on Ohio's ballot has morphed into a fight over how to regulate ballot issue campaigns.

Republicans in the Ohio House voted Thursday to change the 2024 ballot certification deadline to 65 days before the election instead of 90. The move came weeks after Secretary of State Frank LaRose warned that Biden may not make the ballot because the Democratic National Convention takes place after Ohio's Aug. 7 deadline.

After waiting on legislative action, the DNC announced this week that delegates will virtually certify Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris before the Aug. 19 convention. Ohio Democrats argued that made this week's special session ordered by Gov. Mike DeWine superfluous.

But Republicans forged ahead to pass a ballot fix and pursue an entirely different priority: Preventing foreign money in ballot issue campaigns. GOP lawmakers were uninterested in helping Democrats and the Biden campaign without getting something in return.

Under the bill:

• Foreign nationals and green card holders could not directly or indirectly contribute to statewide issue campaigns. It's already illegal for foreign citizens to give money to candidates in Ohio, and federal law prohibits them from donating to any federal, state or local election.
• The ban does not apply to local issues such as liquor options.
• Any violations would start as a misdemeanor and could escalate to a felony charge, in addition to existing fines.
• The attorney general, rather than the Ohio Elections Commission, would prosecute cases involving foreign spending in campaigns.

"We all know the OEC takes its jolly good time and frequently is unable to adjudicate anything before an election," Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said.

The commission's executive director did not respond to a request for comment.

How Ohio Republicans want to change campaign finance law

Democrats generally support keeping foreign money out of elections, but they contend the bill is redundant and could stifle citizen ballot campaigns. They also say it's irresponsible to give more power to the attorney general, who is a partisan elected official. The Ohio Elections Commission is a bipartisan body that handles potential violations of state campaign finance laws.

Rep. Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, accused current Attorney General Dave Yost of attempting to squash ballot initiatives and noted that Yost has been sued by groups trying to put issues before voters. Yost was also close with former Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges, who tried but failed to convince the attorney general to block a referendum over House Bill 6.

"(Yost) has a vested interest in pushing back, in fighting back," Isaacsohn said. "He’s a statewide political actor. To give this kind of unbridled power to one person who’s already proven that he’s willing to use that power to political aims is deeply misguided."

A spokeswoman for Yost did not respond to a request for comment.

Backers of the bill say Ohio should reinforce existing federal law and codify a 2021 Ohio Elections Commission opinion that prohibits foreign citizens from giving to ballot campaigns. Lawmakers first floated the idea after a progressive dark money group that received donations from a Swiss billionaire donated to Ohio ballot campaigns last year.

Ohioans could vote this November on proposals to raise the state minimum wage and reform the mapmaking process. Democrats contend GOP leaders are trying to preempt more losses at the ballot box while failing to strengthen oversight of dark money in the wake of the House Bill 6 scandal.

"The truth is that you the people have defeated various attempts by this body and the body across the statehouse to limit your personal freedoms," House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said. "The truth is they are trying to do that again and changing the rules because they know what is ahead in November."

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the Paste BN Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.