With the announcement that President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the presidential race, the question becomes, what happens now that he is no longer on the ballot? Strictly speaking, Biden wasn’t yet on the ballot. So, the answer from an administrative viewpoint is—not much.
The major political parties choose their presidential nominees at their national conventions, and those names ultimately appear on the ballot in each state in November. The Democratic National Convention takes place Aug. 19-22, and the deadline to certify the party’s nominee comes after the convention in every state. A handful of states had earlier deadlines, but those have been changed administratively or by temporary laws.
After a party’s convention, the name of the presidential nominee goes to each state’s chief election official, who certifies the name to be placed on the November general election ballot. Most of these deadlines occur in late August or during the first two weeks of September. Only then do states begin finalizing and printing ballots to be sent to voters.
Some states begin sending absentee ballots more than 45 days before the election, but all states must have ballots finalized, printed and ready to send 45 days prior to the election for military and overseas voters, as required by federal law.
This has been an eventful summer in presidential politics, but the party procedures and state laws governing how presidential candidates get on the ballot remain the same. Election officials across the country will keep calm and carry on.
Katy Owens Hubler is a project manager in NCSL’s Elections and Redistricting Program.