COLUMBUS — Just before midnight, only hours before the polls were to open, Ohio’s primary election has apparently been postponed by order of the state’s health director.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Monday just after 9 p.m., “it simply is not possible to hold an election tomorrow that will be considered legitimate by Ohioans.”
That joint statement came a few hours after a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge denied the state’s request to extend the state’s primary election to June 2 due to concerns over COVID-19 fears.
Just after 10 p.m., DeWine issued another statement, saying the state’s health director will order the polls closed.
“During this time when we face an unprecedented public health crisis, to conduct an election tomorrow would would force poll workers and voters to place themselves at a unacceptable health risk of contracting coronavirus. As such, Health Director Dr. Amy Acton will order the polls closed as a health emergency. While the polls will be closed tomorrow, Secretary of State Frank LaRose will seek a remedy through the courts to extend voting options so that every voter who wants to vote will be granted that opportunity,” DeWine said.
It was not immediately known if a health director, part of the executive branch of government, could trump the judicial branch decision.
The governor’s argument is found in Ohio Revised Code 3701.13, which says, “The department of health shall have supervision of all matters relating to the preservation of the life and health of the people and have ultimate authority in matters of quarantine and isolation, which it may declare and enforce, when neither exists, and modify, relax, or abolish, when either has been established. “
In their earlier combined statement, DeWine and LaRose said:
“The only thing more important than a free and fair election is the health and safety of Ohioans. The Ohio Department of Health and the CDC have advised against anyone gathering in groups larger than 50 people, which will occur if the election goes forward. Additionally, Ohioans over 65 and those with certain health conditions have been advised to limit their nonessential contact with others, affecting their ability to vote or serve as poll workers. Logistically, under these extraordinary circumstances, it simply isn’t possible to hold an election tomorrow that will be considered legitimate by Ohioans. They mustn’t be forced to choose between their health and exercising their constitutional rights.”
As of 10:30 p.m., boards of election directors around the state didn’t know for sure if they will be opening polling sites Tuesday morning at 6:30 a.m.
“I have never seen anything like this,” said Richland County elections director Paulette Hankins, adding her staff had returned the voting equipment to the polls in the event there is an election Tuesday.
According to the Columbus Dispatch website, Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Frye said it would be a “terrible precedent” for a judge to step in 12 hours before polls open to rewrite the election code.
Also on Monday, according to the Toledo Blade, a Wood County Common Pleas Court candidate in a contested Republican primary for filed an action in the Ohio Supreme Court, alleging the delay of the primary violated election laws.
