Ohio is supposed to be participating in today’s primary elections, both locally in their state and in the presidential races. However late yesterday Ohio went around a court order and shut the polling stations down and thus no one can vote today:
CNN – Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced late Monday night that polls will be closed in the state on Tuesday as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The order came from Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, who said she was ordering “the polling locations in the State of Ohio closed on March 17” in order to “avoid the imminent threat with a high probability of widespread exposure to COVID-19 with a significant risk of substantial harm to a large number of the people in the general population, including the elderly and people with weakened immune systems and chronic medical conditions.”
Acton said the order “shall take effect immediately and remain in full force and effect until the State of Emergency declared by the governor no longer exists” or she modifies the order.
The reason the order came from Ohio’s Health Director is because the governor lost his bid in court yesterday to officially move the election.
DeWine earlier on Monday asked a court to move the primary election to June amid the pandemic, only to be denied by a judge later in the day. It’s not clear whether the order to close the polls as a health emergency will violate the court’s ruling.
“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,” DeWine said in the statement announcing the latest change. “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.”
When asked by CNN’s Don Lemon how the health director could make such an order, despite the judge’s ruling, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose pointed to the “broad authority” Acton has as the top health official in the state.
“What the health director has is broad authority to protect the health of Ohioans,” LaRose said in an interview on “CNN Tonight.”
“There’s a reason why that was created in law. Difficult decisions have to be made. The question of whether to go on with challenging this and appealing to courts in the middle of the night would create more uncertainty. The governor’s decision, I think, was a wise one to create the finality here so that poll workers know we’re not going to order them to go to the polls tomorrow morning when it is detrimental to their health.”
So in effect the election is still happening today, but the voting has been stopped by the closure of the polling stations. The Secretary of State says he is now seeking a remedy in the courts to give voters the ability to vote in the future.