Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
Jefferson County election officials arrive to pack up the polling place at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Wintersville, Ohio, after voting is suspended, March 17, 2020.
CLEVELAND – On Monday night in Ohio, poll worker Rebecca Maurer received a robocall telling her not to report to her polling location the next morning for the state’s primary. Roughly an hour later, she received another phone call telling her that in fact she should report to her polling location. A separate text message from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections reminded her that there is an election on Tuesday.
Maurer was on the receiving end of a confusing night in the Buckeye State, where voters, poll workers, campaigns, and political parties did not know if there would be an election the next day. At a Monday afternoon press conference, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, announced that he would move to postpone the election until June 2, with absentee voting extended to that date. But the state’s constitution requires that the governor get approval from the courts to move an election.
On Twitter, the governor expressed concern that voting would violate CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus: “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 risk of contracting coronavirus.”
The governor’s case was made in Franklin County by Judith Brachman, an 81-year-old who was suing to argue that she was in a high-risk demographic and could not vote on Tuesday. In the early evening, a judge in Franklin County, Democrat Richard A. Frye, ruled that he could not in good conscience allow the election to be delayed at the eleventh hour, adding that the situation may not even be improved in June.
It seemed as though DeWine had lost. At 9 p.m. Monday night, DeWine and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose released a joint statement that did not indicate whether the state would appeal the decision or accept the result. Then, state Health Director Amy Acton announced that the state would order the polls closed as a “public health emergency” through her broad emergency powers as health director.
Simultaneously, in an opposing case, a candidate in Wood County filed suit, alleging that delaying the primary violated state election laws. The candidate then appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court at around 1:30 a.m. after Acton’s announcement, and the court ruled in the wee hours of Tuesday morning that the case was moot in light of Ohio’s emergency closure of the polls. The court gave no written decision.
At this point, it seemed that the polls would be closed, and Rebecca Maurer would not have to report. But because DeWine had lost in the Franklin County case, permitting the election to go forward on Tuesday, some wondered aloud if the governor had defied a court order and would be held in contempt of court.
Brachman appealed her case, but the case was dropped midday today because polling locations are closed.
“If Election Day cannot be legally moved, all the votes that had been cast will be the election. But nobody knows anything 100 percent certain,” one Democratic strategist told the Prospect.
Had the governor convened a session of the state legislature last week to move the election for emergency reasons, that would have been constitutional and allowable. But because the election has technically already begun today—regardless of closed polling places—even if the legislature met today, it’s not clear if it would be constitutionally allowed to move the election date. If the governor cannot get permission from the courts or the legislature, it’s possible that all of the absentee votes and early voting that has already happened will constitute the entire primary election.
If the governor cannot get permission from the courts or the legislature, it’s possible that all of the absentee votes and early voting that has already happened will constitute the entire primary election.
Thirty-five thousand poll workers statewide, many of whom are seniors, did not report to their polling locations today, as Acton’s decision barred in-person voting.
Brian R. Hester, Butler County Democrats executive committee chair and a 2020 DNC delegate for Joe Biden, said on Twitter, “The legislature said today was the final day for ballots to be cast. This is why what DeWine did is uncertain. Absent legislative act or unprecedented judicial activism, the primary may be over.”
DeWine’s decision comes after he has already taken the lead among governors, with drastic steps to slow the outbreak of the coronavirus. The governor announced the closure of Ohio’s public schools on March 12. The same day, he banned gatherings of 100 or more, days before the CDC recommended against gatherings of 50 or more. Over the weekend, DeWine announced the closure of bars and restaurants, while allowing restaurants to continue takeout options; the White House recommended the same by Monday. The governor’s actions have met with approval from Republicans and Democrats alike.
While the governor was criticized for waiting until Monday afternoon to announce a delay of the election, he had been taking steps in that direction since March 10, when the state announced it was moving more than 100 polling locations to eliminate locations in vulnerable sites such as nursing homes. Prior to announcing the closure, the state had also said it would offer “curbside voting” to limit the spread of the virus.
Biden’s Ohio press secretary, Ike Hajinazarian, did not respond to a request for comment. Bernie Sanders no longer has paid staff in the state, but volunteer activist Eric Deamer, who is based in Lakewood, said that the campaign had banned volunteer events since last week.
In Cleveland, drive-through testing for the novel coronavirus is available through the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, though patients must have an order from a doctor to be tested. Dayton is also planning a drive-up testing site.
Cleveland is also suspending evictions for two months in light of the economic strains of the coronavirus pandemic, the city confirmed on Monday.
Around the state, museums and other public locations have closed their doors. The Cleveland Museum of Art closed March 14; Cleveland Public Library and its 27 neighborhood branches closed March 13 until further notice. Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Cleveland, normally open to the public, locked its doors, and the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio announced the cancellation of in-person worship services.
Gov. DeWine also specified that visits to nursing homes would be limited to “no more than one visitor per resident per day, except for end-of-life situations,” though some facilities have implemented even stricter guidance, only allowing visitors to stay for five minutes and directing them to remain six feet from the person they’re visiting.
In suburban Cleveland, much like in other communities around the country, shelves were cleared of paper products, disinfectants, and soap. In grocery stores, the bread aisles were largely empty, and lines were long. At a Target on Friday, a cashier told me that the reason there was no line was because the store had run out of toilet paper the day before. Stores were taking proactive measures to ward off customers in search of items they had days before run out of, posting handwritten “SOLD OUT” signs on their doors.
This afternoon, Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder announced that he would contact legislative leaders to determine their ability to convene a special session on adopting, changing, or extending the primary, Cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer reported.
This is a developing story; this article will be updated.
Update 3/17, 5:00 pm
To remedy the situation and “legally” extend or change the election date, Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder says that lawmakers will not meet on the issue until next week. Householder cited worries about additional exposure to coronavirus in his reasoning for not adding an additional session for the election issue.
Update 3/18, 1:30 pm
The Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) announced in an email that it had filed an action with the state Supreme Court to allow the election to be extended forward—even after the election technically concluded on Tuesday. ODP and Ohio secretary of state Frank LaRose, a Republican, have asked the court for a quick ruling on the fate of the election. Democrats contend that only the legislature has the power to change elections, not LaRose. Both LaRose and ODP want the election extended, but the ODP litigation asks not for another primary day or for the election to be extended to June 2—as the governor wants—but for an extension of absentee balloting until April 28, reports the Columbus Dispatch’s Randy Ludlow.
An editorial in Wednesday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer argued that it was right to call off the election, but that Governor DeWine waited too long to make the decision, illustrating the state’s mixed reaction to the governor’s actions.
