DeWine OKs Biden ballot fix, foreign money ban in elections
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — President Joe Biden will appear on Ohio’s November ballot and foreign donations are now banned from issue elections in the state after Gov. Mike DeWine signed two bills into law Sunday.
The bills, House Bill 1 and House Bill 2, were generated from a special session of Ohio’s General Assembly called by DeWine to resolve putting Biden on the ballot.
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House Bill 2, sponsored by Rep. David Dobos (R-Columbus), delays Ohio’s deadline for a major political party to certify its presidential and vice-presidential candidate to the state’s Secretary of State’s office for this year’s November election.
Some legislators sought to introduce a long-term fix to the ballot issue, but instead passed the one-time change, something it has done for previous presidential elections.
The issue was broached after it was discovered the National Democratic Convention would not be held until after Ohio’s deadline. The law moved that deadline from 90 days before Nov. 8 to 65 days, allowing the Democratic nominating convention to proceed as scheduled.
House Bill 1, sponsored by Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati), now bans foreign nationals from donating to the state’s voter-led issue initiatives, like potential upcoming initiatives pushing a redistricting amendment and a minimum wage initiative.
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Democrats cite HB1 as the Republicans’ attempt to stifle such initiatives by creating an air of fear toward initiative organizers, while Republicans argued that only ballot initiatives that rely on foreign money will be affected.
“There are many countries around the world that are not our friend, and we believe that Ohioans should decide ballot questions only by money that comes from other Americans,” Seitz said last week.
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