Biden might be left off of Alabama's general election ballots

There is now a chance that President Joe Biden will be left off of Alabama's general election ballots in the upcoming presidential election. 

The New York Post reports, "Alabama’s top elections official warned Tuesday that President Biden’s name could be left off state ballots in November because his nomination to be the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer won’t be certified until after a key deadline."

The state's top election official is Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen (R).

Allen explained the situation in a letter that he recently wrote to Randy Kelley, Alabama's Democratic Party chairman, and to Jaime Harrison, the Democratic National Committee chairman.

The problem:

In short, it is that the Democratic Party does not appear as though it is going to nominate Biden as its presidential nominee in time to make Alabama's deadline.

"It has recently come to my attention that the Democratic National Convention is currently scheduled to convene on August 19, 2024, which is after the State of Alabama’s statutory deadline for political parties to provide a certificate of nomination for President and Vice President on August 15, 2024," Allen explained to Kelley and Harrison.

Allen adds, "If this Office has not received a valid certificate of nomination from the Democratic Party following its convention by the statutory deadline, I will be unable to certify the names of the Democratic Party’s candidates for President and Vice President for ballot preparation for the 2024 general election."

Alabama is not Biden's only problem

Alabama is now the second state where Biden might not make the general election ballot. The other is Ohio.

Biden's problem in Ohio is the same as his problem in Alabama, namely, that the Democratic National Convention is not scheduled to convene until after Ohio's deadline to certify a presidential candidate.

Recently, Frank LaRose, Ohio's secretary of state, explained the situation in a letter that he sent to Liz Walters - the chairwoman of the state's Democratic Party.

LaRose wrote:

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to convene on August 19, 2024, which occurs more than a week after the August 7 deadline to certify a presidential candidate to the office. I am left to conclude that the Democratic National Committee must either move up its nominating convention or the Ohio General Assembly must act by May 9, 2024 (90 days prior to a new law's effective date) to create an exception to this statutory requirement.

"Biden will be on . . ."

Despite the fact that, currently, it does not appear as though Biden will meet these deadlines, Biden's campaign insists that he will make the general election ballots of all states.

A Biden campaign spokesperson has put out a statement, saying, "Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states."

The spokesperson added, "State officials have the ability to grant provisional ballot access certification prior to the conclusion of presidential nominating conventions. In 2020 alone, states like Alabama, Illinois, Montana, and Washington all allowed provisional certification for Democratic and Republican nominees."