Even before President Joe Biden’s long-speculated withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, allies of former President Donald Trump floated the possibility of suing to block Democrats from having anyone other than Biden on the ballot in November.
But election administration and legal experts said the timing of Biden’s exit on Sunday makes it unlikely that any Republican ballot access challenges will succeed, with some calling the idea “ridiculous” and “frivolous.” Democrats are on safe legal ground as they identify a new standard-bearer, they say, because the party hasn’t officially chosen its nominee. That typically occurs with a vote of delegates at the party’s convention.
“It’s ridiculous for people to talk about ‘replacing Biden.’ He hasn’t been nominated yet,” said Richard Winger, a leading expert on state ballot access laws and the longtime editor of the “Ballot Access News” newsletter.
On the surface, it’s not bad. If, for example, you move from one state to another, your previous state may not know you don’t live there anymore. So if they see you haven’t voted in that state for a while, they’ll assume you don’t live there and remove your name from their registration.
The problem is, as usual, how it gives conservatives in the US cover to remove legitimate voters. If you haven’t moved but also haven’t voted for the last several election cycles, you might get removed even if you intend to vote in this election. And you can see how that’s a short jump to “Oh no, we accidentally removed a whole bunch of people who were going to vote against us and darn it, wouldn’t you know there’s no way to fix this in time!”
If, for example, you move from one state to another, your previous state may not know you don’t live there anymore. So if they see you haven’t voted in that state for a while, they’ll assume you don’t live there and remove your name from their registration.
They always know, especially if you’re paying your taxes correctly. Try moving to Colorado. You’ll get registered immediately without doing anything and your ballot will be mailed to you. You don’t ever have to do anything in person.
There’s no reason to unregister someone from voting. In any state.
Try moving to Colorado. You’ll get registered immediately without doing anything and your ballot will be mailed to you.
In Kentucky, you have to go register yourself. And unless KY tells CO you’ve registered there, they wouldn’t know.
