State Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, and House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, filed legislation Thursday to ensure President Joe Biden is on Alabama’s general election ballot in November.
“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,” Coleman said in a written statement. “Oversights and scheduling conflicts have happened before and there is a precedent for correcting this quickly just as the Republicans have done several times previously.”
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen earlier this week said Biden could be left off the ballot because the state’s August candidate certification deadline comes several days before the Democratic Party’s convention.
Alabama law requires the names of presidential nominees to be submitted 82 days before the election.
The Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature in 2020 chanced the certification deadline for the 2020 election, The Associated Press reported. The bill stated that the change was being made “to accommodate the dates of the 2020 Republican National Convention.”
Coleman and Daniels are asking the certification deadline this year be moved from 82 days prior to the election to 74 days.
Daniels’ bill was assigned to the House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections committee.
Coleman’s was assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Neither committee has posted an agenda for next week.
Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, R-Jasper, made an exception on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon to allow Coleman to introduce her bill after the normal introduction window closed.
“I made an accommodation at the end of the day to make sure the bill could get introduced,” Reed later told Alabama Daily News. “I’ve not read the bill, I don’t know exactly what they’re asking for, but the idea that we would look for a level playing field for everybody involved in the election process is probably something that I would support. I think it’s an attitude that we have to be cognizant of; again, I don’t know the details of what they’re asking for, but I did want it to have an opportunity to be introduced today.”
The ALGOP on Thursday criticized the Biden campaign and national Democrats for the deadline issue.
“It is hard to comprehend how the Biden campaign and DNC allowed themselves to miss this critical deadline,” chairman John Wahl said in a written statement. “Despite ample time and resources at their disposal, they have demonstrated a shocking disregard for Alabama’s electoral process and the voters of our state. Alabama’s presidential certification laws are not new, and these types of deadlines are a normal part of running a presidential campaign. Four years ago, the Alabama Republican Party and RNC avoided this problem by working proactively to ensure our nominee would not be left off the ballot before it became a concern.”
There are nine legislative days remaining in the regular legislative session.