Top Conservative Think Tank Vows to Make it 'Extraordinarily Difficult' for Dems to Replace Biden By Filing... Lawsuits"

[Ms. Toad]

58. All of the hard deadlines were dealt with prior to the current kerfluffle.

The laws you are citing are for replacing someone on the ballot (replacement, withdrawn, etc). Not for putting them on the ballot in the first place. Biden is not yet the party's candidate, nor is he on on the ballot anywhere yet. Biden would not be on the ballot in Texas simply because he won the Texas primary. He would be on the ballot in Texas only if he is properly nominated by the Democratic Party - at the convention (or sometime sooner by remote roll call).

Every state I'm aware of (and I've worked in election law in a majority of the states) have separate rules for a federal candidate from a major party. And all of the laws you (and anyone else) have cited deal with rules for replacing a candidate; not for an initial party nomination. If you read the Heritage Foundations language, although it is deliberately intended to be scary, they actually acknowledge that their fear-mongering only applies to replacements. Not to the initial party nominations.

Here is the deadline for the nomination by a major party for its presidential candidate in Texas.

Sec. 192.031. PARTY CANDIDATE'S ENTITLEMENT TO PLACE ON BALLOT. (a) A political party is entitled to have the names of its nominees for president and vice-president of the United States placed on the ballot in a presidential general election if:

. . .

(3) the party's state chair delivers the written certification to the secretary of state before the later of:

(A) 5 p.m. of the 71st day before presidential election day; or

(B) 5 p.m. of the first business day after the date of final adjournment of the party's national presidential nominating convention;

In other words, the party (and its rules) are in charge of who it places on the ballot - as long as it meets the relevant deadlines.

Now, as to changing later - I have not researched those laws, but I suspect that would be more problematic scenario. You may be thinking about that scenario, but the chatter I'm responding to is people who either (1) believe Biden is already on the ballot or (2) believe the rules for changing a candidate apply even before the more specific major party nomination rules require.

All of the deadlines for the getting the Democratic Party candidate on the ballot after the convention were dealt with by June 2, when Dewine signed the Ohio law extending the ballot deadline. Whatever candidate the party nominates at the convention (or before if they hold the remote vote) will be on the ballot in all 50 states.

. . . if the party attempt a change after that, all bets are off.