Ohio Senate approves Biden ballot fix and foreign influence legislation

Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, during the Ohio Senate session, February 28, 2024, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original article.)

The Ohio Senate signed off on a pair of bills Friday to get President Joe Biden on Ohio’s ballot, and to criminalize foreign influence in statewide ballot issue campaigns. The measures have prompted sharp criticism from Democrats who contend Republicans are leveraging presidential ballot access to kneecap future statewide initiatives.

With Democrats already planning a virtual convention, they add, the precipitating crisis has been averted and there’s no need to fast track legislation.

After the Senate adjourned, Senate President Matt Huffman said some in his caucus had “heartburn” over approving Biden for the ballot.

“But we also understood this was, one, the right thing to do, two, it was gonna happen anyway, and three we should be in control of the decision,” he said.

Ohio House sends foreign influence, Biden ballot fix legislation to Senate

When the bill passed the House yesterday, dozens of Republicans voted against the measure clearing Biden’s path to the ballot.

The entire exercise began with Secretary of State Frank LaRose reminding officials in April that Ohio’s presidential nomination deadline comes before the planned Democratic National Convention. In the past, lawmakers have approved temporary fixes to shift the deadline. But this year, GOP leaders in the Senate determined not to let the opportunity go to waste, and attached the deadline change to a proposal banning foreign influence in citizen initiative campaigns.

The House balked. The governor called a special session.

Since Tuesday, lawmakers have been haggling over what they’ll send to the governor’s desk. In large part they’ve landed where the Senate wanted, linking the ballot fix with foreign influence legislation. But the House extracted a handful of concessions.

As Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, described, the penalty for a first offense will be a first degree misdemeanor rather than a fifth degree felony. The bill also leaves local ballot issues outside its scope and doesn’t apply penalties to campaign treasurers — they manage rather than solicit funds, Seitz argued.

One other concession got rolled back on the House floor. Rather than follow the federal definition of “foreign national,” House lawmakers chose to use a more expansive definition that sweeps in lawful permanent residents — green card holders. The change aligns with what Senate negotiators had in mind.

Senate Debate

As the senate session began, lawmakers first had to suspend the rules requiring legislation be heard on multiple days.

Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, attempted to amend the measure into a streamlined prohibition on foreign contributions. He argued it “does what the majority has wanted to do and the minority has never been against.” Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, criticized it’s lack of penalties and the amendment was defeated.

Echoing a criticism leveled by Rep. Seitz, Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, warned applying campaign spending prohibitions to green card holders would make the measure vulnerable to court challenge. He laid out a simple equation: the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled money is speech, and it has ruled lawful permanent residents have free speech rights.

“That is going to get sued over, in this bill” Antani argued, “and the entire thing is going to get struck down because we in the legislature are overreaching.”

Sen. Catherine Ingram, D-Cincinnati, proposed removing a provision empowering the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute any potential foreign influence incidents. Democrats in both chambers have bristled at giving a political actor greater jurisdiction over campaigns. They have contended it is the Ohio Elections Commission made up of three Republicans, three Democrats, and one independent, that should have authority.

In a statement, Attorney General Dave Yost himself said, “I did not ask for the authority in this bill, and I don’t care whether it is my office or someone else that does the work — but the work must be done.”

McColley dismissed Ingram’s amendment arguing the Attorney General’s office is better equipped to handle complex cases.

“These cases are inherently complex,” McColley argued. “These cases are inherently international. These cases are inherently going to take an awful lot of time and difficulty, and are going to need the full force and effect of the state government behind them.”

Ingram’s amendment failed.

The Senate next turned to the bill extending the deadline for parties to submit their presidential nominees. McColley again handled the bill’s introduction and argued “Ohioans deserve the choice in this election.”

DeMora offered an amendment making the changes permanent. He noted presidential races and summer Olympics run on the same four-year cycle, meaning political conventions are competing for limited television airtime.

“Instead of having to worry about this every four years,” he argued, “why don’t we just fix it permanently, why don’t we just make it so that it’s 60 days or three days after the end of the presidential party’s nominee convention whatever comes latest and solve this once and for all?”

Unlike the changes related to foreign influence, with the ballot fix McColley counseled patience. Lawmakers shouldn’t rush to make a sweeping policy without a “a more thoughtful deliberative process” that includes input from the Secretary of State’s office.

DeMora’s amendment failed, and the Senate voted to approve the one-time deadline changes.

Aftermath

Speaking to reporters after the fact, Huffman dismissed concerns including green card holders in the definition of foreign nationals. Like other lawmakers, he pointed to a 2022 ballot measure barring non-citizens from voting that passed with nearly 77% support.

“Ohioans spoke very clearly in the issue a few years ago, that those folks cannot vote,” Huffman said, “which of course is the fundamental participation to political system. So I don’t think it’s inconsistent with that at all.”

He acknowledged a court challenge is likely coming but argued that was going to happen anyway.

As for proceeding with the deadline fix despite plans for a virtual convention, Huffman argued it was a worthwhile contingency. “Sometimes people say they’re going to do things and then they don’t,” he said. He added it’s always possible someone could challenge a virtual convention.

“We just want to get the question answered and move on,” he said. Echoing McColley, he said a permanent fix is a good idea, but not without input from the Secretary of State.

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio described the deadline changes as insurance but couldn’t say whether the party would call off it’s virtual convention. On the argument, leveled by Antani that foreign national definition will lead to court challenges she said “he could be right,” and that the measure is “questionable — absolutely.”

Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.

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