Go, Fox. Go!
. . .
Fox gets home just in time.
from Fox is Late
written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor
Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollinsPublishers, 2018
(accessed on YouTube 5/27/2024)
As shown in Cory Tabor’s last, clever illustration, Fox is rushing around because he is the one serving lunch. His friends are concerned that their own lunch will be late.
Although I like to be on time, punctuality was not a gene I inherited from my mom. I’m not as procrastination-prone as my dad was though, and I’m not as distractible as my daughter. I’m just sometimes a little time-challenged. Doing that “one more thing” usually makes me “not early.”
Quarter tills and quarter afters mess me up, too. And this past week, I was a whole week early for a scheduled meeting (that I had recorded correctly on my calendar).
My issues with timeliness usually only affect me, and it’s something I’ve become more aware of as I realize my time on this planet is limited.
Not so, it seems, with Ohio’s legislators.
In order for President Biden’s name to appear on Ohio’s ballot, he must be recognized as the Party’s official candidate at the Democratic National Convention (this year in Chicago) at least 90 days before the General Election. But 90 days from August 19, is November 17, and Election Day (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November) falls on November 5 in 2024.
Ohio’s ballot deadline is 12 days too late.
In April 2024, Secretary of State Frank LaRose advised Democrats in Ohio’s Congress that their convention was scheduled after the August 7 ballot deadline. He said they needed to pass a legislative decision by May 9 to solve the timing issue. The easiest way would be to change the deadline for certification.
Thats been done as a matter of course in the past. In 2012 and again in 2020, the Ohio legislature made sure all the candidates were certified in time for the election.
But this time, disagreement between the Ds and the Rs resulted in different versions of a bill. Congress wants to move the certification deadline to accommodate a shorter “window of opportunity,” 74 days instead of the required 90. But Rs in the Senate included legislation to ban foreign nationals from contributing to ballot initiatives. Ds said “no” to that.
Ds agree that banning foreign political contributions is necessary, and according to House Democratic leader, Allison Russo on her X platform, accepting money from foreign donors is already illegal. Ds want a “clean” bill that addresses only the issue at hand, the date discrepancy.
Meanwhile, the Senate has already passed its version with the foreign contribution phrase, referred to as a “poison pill.”
And the House is still deadlocked.
Last week, Governor Mike DeWine intervened. He wants to ensure that President Joe Biden's name will appear on Ohio’s ballot for the General Election this November so he called the Congress back into a special session to begin this very morning, Tuesday, May 28, 2024.
But DeWine, himself a Republican, does not support the “clean” bill in the House, the ones the Ds and Rs both support. He asked the Representatives to pass the Senate version.
Obviously, it would be less than ideal (on many levels) for the citizens of Ohio to be forced to vote for Joe Biden, the incumbent President, by writing his name on a blank. And as reported in The Hill, “any newfound sense of urgency from Rs is not really about Biden…It’s about [the R’s wish] to undermine ballot initiatives.”
It is an open (and a little bit scary) question, whether the Parties are willing to work together for the benefit of the citizens of Ohio to solve a problem that at its heart is not political.
Both Parties and Biden’s campaign are confident that Joe Biden’s name will appear on Ohio’s ballot this fall. But at what cost?
I’m sharpening my pencil.
I’m reading Mad Honey, by Jennifer Finney Boylan and Jodi Piccoult (Ballantine, 2022). It’s a story of domestic abuse and how it affects the survivors. I’ve only just started it, so I hope there’s some redemptive feature or a bit of optimism. I’ll let you know next week!
--Be curious! (and strive for punctuality)