Democrats introduce legislation to allow Biden to be on the Alabama ballot

The Democratic Party's national convention begins on August 19; but the Alabama Legislature set August 15 as the deadline for parties to announce their candidate slate ahead of the election. Since Biden won't be actually chosen yet, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen (R) says that there is a possibility that the Democrats won't have a candidate for President or Vice President on the November 5 general election.

To address this potential electoral crisis, Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) and the Chair of the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus, Senator Merika Coleman (D-Birmingham) have introduced companion bills in the legislature to move the deadline so that the Democratic Party will be able to get their ticket on the Alabama ballot.

Each has introduced the same bill in their respective Houses to extend the deadline for the Democratic National Convention to put its nominee for president and vice-president (likely to be President Biden and Vice President Harris) on the ballot for the general election in November.

This extension has been allowed multiple times when the Republican Party faced the same situation in prior elections.

"The people of Alabama should have the opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice and to see their party's candidate on the ballot, regardless of their political affiliation," said Sen. Coleman in a statement. "Oversights and scheduling conflicts have happened before and there is precedent for correcting this quickly just as the Republicans have done several times previously."

"This is fundamentally about fairness and giving the voters of Alabama a choice," said Rep. Daniels in a statement. "The Alabama Legislature has the ability to grant provisional ballot access certification prior to the conclusion of presidential nominating conventions. Simply put, this is the right thing to do for Alabama voters."

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley told the Alabama Gazette on Thursday, "We are doing everything we possibly can to get the President and the Vice President on the ballot."

Republicans have supermajorities in both Houses of the Alabama Legislature so it will take a bipartisan effort for this extension legislation to get passed before the 2024 Legislative session ends.