Will Joe Biden be on the Ohio ballot? What you need to know about the current situation

Calling it ridiculous that Ohio has yet to find a fix to make sure President Joe Biden is on the November ballot, Gov. Mike DeWine ordered lawmakers to return to Columbus this week and get it done.

Ohio law requires candidates to be added to the ballot 90 days before an election, but the Democratic National Convention meets to nominate Biden after that deadline.

Earlier this month, Ohio lawmakers hit a stalemate and failed to pass a law to change the deadline.

The Senate passed a fix but tacked on a provision to ban foreign money going to ballot issue campaigns. Democrats called the add-on a "poison pill" and a "sore-loser" provision. They voted no and the House opted not to take up the bill.

Currently, Ohio is the only state in the country facing the prospect that voters won't be able to vote for one of the two major party candidates for president.

The Ohio Senate is scheduled to be in session Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. The House is scheduled to be in session Thursday at 10 a.m.

Why don't Democrats support the bill?

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said the language goes beyond just blocking foreign nationals from contributing money to state or local ballot campaigns. The bill, as written, would add more hurdles for citizen-led efforts to put questions before voters statewide, she said.

Last year, Ohioans rejected a GOP-backed plan to raise the threshold for constitutional amendments and then voted in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana and protecting abortion access.

Antonio said those losses are prompting the Republicans to change the rules.

"If you lose, you can train harder, you can improve your skill set or you can try to change the rules," Antonio said. "And in the state of Ohio, right now, the supermajority is trying to change the rules."

Democrats also point out that dark money organizations, that don't have to disclose their donors, were instrumental in the biggest public corruption case in state history. The former speaker of the Ohio House, Larry Householder, and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges are in prison, two others pleaded guilty and two other men died by suicide in the case that has spanned nearly four years. Despite that, state lawmakers have left reform bills on the table.

Details in the bill

Earlier this month, the Ohio Senate voted 24-7 along party lines for House Bill 114. It includes a provision to move the deadline for certifying Biden to the ballot to align with the Democratic National Convention dates. And it bans foreign nationals from raising or spending money in state or local ballot issues.

It's already illegal for foreign citizens to give money to candidates in Ohio. And federal law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing directly or indirectly to any federal, state or local election.

Here is what else the bill would do:

• Give the attorney general the power to prosecute violations of the foreign money ban as well as most other campaign finance law violations. Currently, the Ohio Elections Commission sends campaign finance violation matters to the Franklin County prosecutor.
• Require committees that spend or receive money to circulate ballot petitions to form political action committees and file the required PAC campaign finance reports.
• Prohibit foreign money flowing indirectly into ballot campaigns via other entities.

According to the Legislative Service Commission bill analysis, if an organization had two branches and one branch received foreign donations that were later co-mingled in an account accessed by the other branch for a ballot campaign, they'd be violating the law.

Catherine Turcer, a campaign finance expert with Common Cause Ohio, said banning foreign money in ballot campaigns sounds easy but the bill raises questions about how it would work.

In November, the Catholic Church spent money against the abortion rights ballot issue. Turcer said the proposed bill would prohibit any foreign money − from church plate collections to money raised overseas − going toward a ballot issue.

How can the governor force lawmakers to work?

Ohio has three co-equal branches of government: the executive, judicial and legislative branches. The Ohio Constitution has a seldom used provision that authorizes the governor to call a special legislative session. Basically, he can order lawmakers to meet on a specific topic.

In December 2004, then Gov. Bob Taft used the provision to bring state lawmakers back to Columbus to deal with a campaign finance issue. The House and Senate voted along party lines to increase political contribution limits, require more disclosures, prohibit contributions by children under age 7 and make other changes.

Will it work?

To be determined. Just because the governor tells them to get to work, doesn't mean lawmakers will do what he wants.

In December as Ohio's new recreational marijuana law took effect, DeWine publicly urged the House to adopt regulations that the Senate supported. The House declined.

On Thursday, the governor laid blame on the House for failing to fix the issues and ordered lawmakers back to Columbus on Tuesday to pass legislation that would put Biden on the November ballot and ban foreign money in ballot campaigns.

House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, indicated a compromise could be in the works over the foreign campaign money.

"We have language that has input from campaign finance experts and important interested parties to deal with the issue," he said in a statement. "This is language that squarely and directly bans foreign influence in Ohio’s issue campaigns, while not also inadvertently limiting the rights of citizens to have their voices heard."