“ABA Task Force for American Democracy to hold listening tour event in Madison, Wisconsin”

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Release:

The American Bar Association Task Force for American Democracy will hold the fourth in a series of listening tour events Tuesday, July 9, with a program in Madison, Wisconsin, featuring local leaders, legal scholars and defenders of democracy. The event, “Elections in the 21st Century,” will be held at the State Bar Center and will address vital election integrity issues and the need to support poll workers. The event will be livestreamed, and a recording will be available afterward. The program can be viewed here.

What:         
Elections in the 21st Century
Sponsored by the ABA Task Force for American Democracy

When:      
Tuesday, July 9, 12:30-5 p.m. CDT

Where:       
State Bar Center
5302 Eastpark Blvd.
Madison, Wisconsin

Register by emailing [email protected].

Introductory remarks will be delivered by ABA President Mary Smith and former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Charles Johnson, co-chair of the ABA Task Force for American Democracy. Johnson opens the event with a presentation, “The Threat to Democracy.” University of Wisconsin Law School Dean Daniel Tokaji will speak on federal election litigation.

Attendees will engage in discussions and expert panelists will offer insights on safeguarding our electoral process. The event is hosted by the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democracy Task Force. Program information can be found here.

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No, States Would Not Be Forced to Keep Biden on the Ballot If He’s Not the Democratic Party’s Nominee from the DNC

ballot access

I have been seeing stories like this and this citing to a Heritage memo saying that in some states it would be hard for Democrats to list someone other than Biden on the ballot if Democrats nominate someone else at the Democratic National Convention. I don’t put any credence into it. Joe Biden is not the party’s nominee now, and states generally point to the major party’s nominee as the one whose name is on the ballot.

For example, the memo, embedded here, cites to a provision of Wisconsin law 8.35(1) about replacing nominees when they withdraw from office after nomination. But Biden has not yet been nominated. And there’s a specific rule for presidential nominees set forth in 8.16(7):

Nominees chosen at a national convention and under s. 8.18 (2) by each party entitled to a partisan primary ballot shall be the party’s candidates for president, vice president and presidential electors. The state or national chairperson of each such party shall certify the names of the party’s nominees for president and vice president to the commission no later than 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday in September preceding a presidential election. Each name shall be in one of the formats authorized in s. 7.08 (2) (a).

And in the unlikely event that a state law would make Biden be forced to be listed on the ballot (I’m not even sure how that could be), then I expect litigation would place the actual nominee of the party on the ballot. Voters should have the right to vote for the party’s candidate, and there are cases that affirm this principle that go back a while.

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