Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration took unilateral action to shut down Tuesday’s primary election over coronavirus concerns hours before Democrats were expected to descend on polling places in his state.
“During this time when we face an unprecedented public health crisis, to conduct an election tomorrow would force poll workers and voters to place themselves at an unacceptable health risk of contracting coronavirus,” DeWine tweeted late Monday.
He added of Ohio’s health director, “As such, @DrAmyActon will order the polls closed as a health emergency. While the polls will be closed tomorrow, Secretary of State @FrankLaRose will seek a remedy through the courts to extend voting options so that every voter who wants to vote will be granted that opportunity.”
As such, @DrAmyActon will order the polls closed as a health emergency. While the polls will be closed tomorrow, Secretary of State @FrankLaRose will seek a remedy through the courts to extend voting options so that every voter who wants to vote will be granted that opportunity.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 17, 2020
DeWine’s swift response to the outbreak of the respiratory illness has been widely lauded nationwide from both sides of the political aisle.
The decision to shutter polling stations late Monday comes after a state municipal court judge rejected a request to postpone Tuesday’s contests, where Republicans are also on the ballot. Judge Richard Frye ruled there wasn’t any evidence the pandemic would subside by June 2, a new date DeWine proposed for in-person voting. The governor had also suggested absentee ballot voting be allowed to continue until the new date.
“The only thing more important than a free and fair election is the health and safety of Ohioans,” DeWine said in a joint statement with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose earlier Monday. “They mustn’t be forced to choose between their health and exercising their constitutional rights.”
Election officials in Louisiana, Georgia, and Kentucky have already moved their primary dates amid the crisis, but, as of late Monday, Democrats in Arizona, Illinois, and Florida were still expected to head to the polls.
Ohio Democrats were set to decide how to allocate 136 pledged delegates, with 1,911 delegates needed to secure the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Former Vice President Joe Biden was heading into Tuesday’s contest with significant momentum, having 871 delegates to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 719.
