President Joe Biden will make it to the November ballot in Alabama after state officials made sure that his name will be on the ballots by then. Officials just passed legislation that will ensure his name appears in all 50 states in time for November elections.
In a vote of 93-0, the House of Representatives passed the legislation that pushes back the certification deadline from 82 days to 74 days, which would then allow Democrats to have the time to submit Biden's name after clinching the spot for the Dem nominee at the national convention, CNN reported.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) reportedly signed the bill into law on the same day, The Hill revealed.
The same kind of accommodation was seen four years ago with then President Donald Trump. Democratic state Sen. Merika Coleman, who sponsored the bill, stated that the day they passed the bill favoring Biden was truly a great day.
"This is a great day in Alabama when, in a bipartisan manner, we passed this legislation to ensure that President Joe Biden gains access to the ballot in Alabama," Coleman said. Alabama is a known state with heavily Republican-dominated officials.
The issue surrounding the state's November ballot arose because Alabama's early certification deadline falls before the Democratic National Convention scheduled on Aug. 19. Because of this, Alabama officials sprang into action.
The campaign for Biden made a statement on the matter.
"Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states. Election after election, states across the country have acted in line with the bipartisan consensus and taken the necessary steps to ensure the presidential nominees from both parties will be on the ballot," it said.
In 2020, Trump faced a similar issue wherein the state's legislature needed to pass legislation to move the deadline for certification to accommodate the GOP Convention.
Republican House Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Pringle said that what they did for Biden was nothing new. In fact, the move was actually unopposed in Congress but faced unanimous approval.
"This is nothing new. We just need to fix this so the president can be on the ballot, just like our nominee can be on the ballot," Chris mentioned.
In the event that Alabama legislators did not agree to delay the certification date, which would grant Biden access to the November ballots, litigation was "almost" with utmost certainty considering that accommodations for GOP nominees in the past were also carried out without much hesitation.
