I’m inclined to think Biden won’t be on the ballot in Alabama or Ohio

That is if the Secretary of State or the legislature in those states doesn’t decide to issue an order or amend election law extending the date for Presidential nominees to be selected and appear on the ballot. In these increasingly partisan times, I have my doubts that the Republican elected officials in these states will lift a finger to help Joe Biden get ballot access when he’s not ordinary legally entitled to have ballot access.

I have my doubts the courts will be much help here for Democrats either. The law is the law, and it’s not like the state laws have changed or it was a secret. Instead, it was the Democratic National Committee’s fault for not moving forward the nominating convention before the required state deadlines. Nobody right to choose their presidential candidate of choice was denied, except by the party itself, who chose to ignore the law. Courts don’t like it when organizations know the law and choose to ignore it, and then beg for mercy.

Ultimately, I’m not sure it matters much. Alabama is solidly red and is almost certain to go for Trump. Ohio has drifted so far to the right in recent years, the same could be said about this former swing-state. Democrats just don’t play well in a manufacturing, blue collar state like Ohio anymore. But I’m sure that the state party will launch a vigorous write-in campaign for Joe Biden, and if the election is close come November, it could be a pretty big clusterfuck, should it come down to Ohio and counting potentially millions of write-ins for Joe Biden. That said, I doubt he’ll win Ohio at this point.

Democrats will inevitably blame Alabama and Ohio election laws and the unmoved Republican majorities in those states for not giving them ballot access for Joe Biden. But ultimately it’s not state’s fault that the Democratic National Committee has been emboldened to bully states around, with them not counting New Hampshire’s primary or holding their convention too late to get ballot access in Alabama and Ohio.