Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen has notified the state and national Democratic parties that the scheduled date of the Democratic National Convention is a few days after the deadline for the party to put its nominees for president and vice president on the ballot for the general election in November.
The Republican National Convention came after the same deadline in 2020, but the Legislature passed a bill to allow ballot access. President Joe Biden’s campaign released a statement Tuesday night in response to Allen’s letter, saying the deadline would not keep the president off the ballot.
“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” the campaign said. “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.”
Allen, who is a Republican, said state law requires parties to provide a certification of nomination for president and vice president no later than Aug. 15.
“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,” Allen wrote in a letter to Randy Kelley, Chair of the Alabama Democratic Party. “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.”
Allen’s office also sent a copy of the letter to Jaime R. Harrison, Chair of the Democratic National Committee.
The 82-day deadline has been in Alabama’s election law since 1975, according to the Allen’s office.
The Democrats are expected to nominate Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for a rematch with the presumed Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Four years ago, when Republicans held their convention Aug. 24-27, the Legislature passed a bill to make a one-time change in the deadlines and accommodate the GOP.
Alabama code section 17-14-31(b) says parties must certify their candidates “no later than the 82nd day preceding the day fixed for the election.” With this year’s election on Nov. 5, that makes Aug. 15 the 82nd preceding day, Allen said in the letter.
Allen said the secretary of state’s office has published the certification deadline on its website since June 2023.
Allen said, “If those certificates are not in my office on time, there will be no certification and no appearance on the Alabama general election ballot in accordance with sections 17-13-22 and 17-14-31(a) of the Code of Alabama. With this letter, we are providing ample notification to the leadership of the Democratic Party at the state and national level that the burden of providing those certifications by the statutorily set deadline is a requirement that they must meet.”
The Republican Party is scheduled to hold its national convention July 15-18, well ahead of the Alabama deadline.
Here is a link to the letter from Allen to the Democratic Party.
This story will be updated. This story was edited at 4:05 p.m. to correct the spelling of the name of DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. This story was updated at 7:20 a.m. on April 10 to add a statement from the Biden campaign.