Statement from Catherine Turcer, Common Cause Ohio

3/17/2020

News about Ohio’s primary has been confusing and constantly shifting. Here’s an update with the latest information. 

The Ohio Department of Health has ordered the polls to be closed today due to public health concerns. Tuesday’s in-person election is postponed. See the announcement from the Ohio Secretary of State here: 

https://www.ohiosos.gov/media-center/press-releases/2020/2020-03-16/

Early this morning, the Ohio Supreme Court denied a lawsuit challenging moving the date of the primary election and allowed a delay in the in-person vote. There may be more litigation but, according to the Ohio Secretary’s directive, votes already cast will count, and those who have not already voted will have a chance to do so. Common Cause Ohio will work hard to make sure this is the case. 

While the timing and roll out of the decision were unfortunate to say the least, we here at Common Cause Ohio believe that it will save lives and ultimately allow more votes to count. Postponing the election became necessary because so many poll workers are over the age of 70. Not all counties were able to provide the necessary sanitation and cleaning materials. There was no way to proceed and keep poll workers and voters safe. 

Voters with completed absentee vote-by-mail ballots in hand should return them to their county board of elections no later than 7:30pm today, Tuesday, March 17. Although we hope and assume that further voting will be possible, it makes sense to return completed ballots now if that is possible. 

We will make sure that you have good up to date information as we move forward, and we’ll continue to advocate for voters and improvements in Ohio’s election laws and practices.

Do you use social media? Please help us get the word out and amplify accurate information! 

Click here for a tweet to share. Click here for a Facebook post to share. #VoteSafeOhio!

If you have questions, or if you want to report something you have seen at the (closed) polls, call the nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE, or call us here at Common Cause Ohio at 614-285-6019.