What to know about ballots now that Biden has dropped out of the presidential race
President Joe Biden decided to withdraw Sunday from the 2024 presidential race, ending weeks of concerns within the Democratic Party over his viability against former President Donald Trump in November.
Read more: Biden bows out of 2024 presidential race, backs Kamala Harris to lead Democratic Party
And still ahead as we near the Democratic National Convention in August: Ballots need to be finalized, printed and (sometimes) mailed out in masses.
Earlier this week, we asked political science experts what could happen in the event of a Biden withdrawal close to the election.
“What kind of confusion could this cause? A whole lot,” said Chris Cooper, director of the Haire Institute for Public Policy at Western Carolina University.
“The key part here is every state, within some boundaries, chooses their own adventure when it comes to election administration. Clearly, this issue would be a lot easier for the states that wait a little longer to print and mail their ballots than the states that do it earlier.”
In the days and weeks before Sunday’s announcement, least a dozen Democrats had called on Biden to drop out of the race, The Washington Post reported on Friday, July 19. And even up to the day before his withdrawal, the Biden campaign had reiterated that he had no plans to exit, with campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon saying on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday: He is “more committed than ever to beat Donald Trump.”
Here are some of the potential problems with ballots when presidential candidates change close to the election.
When are presidential election ballots finalized?
This differs between states, but no ballots have been printed for the general election yet, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission said Monday.
“There are still Congressional and state primaries in some states until September,” said Kristen Muthig, EAC’s director of communications, in an email.
State-by-state ballot mailing and certification deadlines dictate when ballots need to be final. If Biden had stepped down later into the summer, three states particularly could have been in a bind:
• North Carolina and Delaware: These states have the earliest mail-out deadlines in the country, requiring ballots are mailed 60 days ahead of the election. This year, that’s Sept. 6.
“So some ballots could be cast Sept. 7, potentially,” Cooper said.
• Ohio: This state’s extra-early ballot certification deadline is Aug. 7, almost two weeks before the DNC when the presidential and vice presidential candidates will be made official.
But two decisions would have made this a less extreme situation:
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation to extend the deadline to Aug. 31.
Still, the DNC plans to virtually nominate Biden before the convention to secure his spot on the Ohio ballot.
“These would be your canary in the coal mine,” Cooper said.
When do presidential candidates have to be finalized?
Nominees are officially secured at their respective parties’ national conventions.
Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance became official Republican nominees at the Republican National Convention in mid-July.
Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris would have secured the Democratic nomination with a virtual vote ahead of the convention in mid-August. The early vote would put Biden and Harris on Ohio’s ballot (see above), but it could be complicated if a replacement nominee isn’t selected quickly.
“What we’re looking at right now is the phase from going to a presumptive nominee to the actual nominee of the party,” said Amy K. Dacey, executive director of the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics at American University (and CEO of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential election).
“This is where we have the 30 or so days before the convention, then what could happen at the convention, then even immediately after. What’s the scenario going to be at each one?”
What happens if Biden’s name is on the ballot, but he’s out of the race?
Biden’s votes would go to the new Democratic nominee — and the Electoral College would step in big time, Cooper said in an interview before Biden’s announcement.
“We have to remember that when we’re voting for president, we’re not really voting for president. We’re voting for Electoral College members who pinky swear they’re going to vote for that president. So that vote becomes extra important,” he said.
“What would likely happen in this purgatory period is Biden is out, for whatever reason, and the party would then select another nominee. The ballots are already out, and some could be returned already. So those votes will just go toward whoever the new Democratic nominee is, and it’ll be up to the Electoral College to ultimately cast their ballots.”
Though Biden dropped out of the race voluntarily, it’s also possible this situation could play out from a candidate’s death, he said.
How will Biden’s replacement be chosen?
Minutes after he announced he would withdraw from the race, Biden endorsed Harris as the 2024 Democratic candidate, but members of the Democratic National Convention will ultimately choose a new nominee.
“There are systems in place for this kind of scenario. ... This is a party process, not a legal process and not a government process,” Dacey said.
“If, for some reason, a person becomes the nominee at the convention and something happens where they’re no longer able to be the nominee, there would be a call of the DNC members to take a vote on who the new person would be. We saw this in 1972 when the vice presidential nominee stepped aside. The 435 members of the Democratic Party will then take a vote to replace that individual.”
This story was originally published July 20, 2024 at 11:36 AM with the headline "What to know about ballots now that Biden has dropped out of the presidential race."
