COLUMBUS, Ohio — Voters in Ohio were set to head to the polls Tuesday for the state's primary election, until Governor Mike Dewine, -R- Ohio, declared late Monday night the polls would be closed to mitigate the Coronavirus outbreak.
"It is clear that tomorrow's in-person voting does not conform with these CDC guidelines" Dewine said.
The decision to close the polls defies an Ohio judge's ruling that blocked a petition to reschedule the state's primary. Te judge said doing so would set an "unprecedented action."
Governor Dewine tweeted it would be unacceptable to force poll workers and voters to place themselves at risk of contracting the Coronavirus.
"Imagine in a scenario where the administration is saying that gatherings of over ten people are unauthorized and that Ohioans over 65 should remain in their homes" Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose told CNN Tuesday morning. "It was simply untenable for us to continue telling Ohioans 'go to the poll.'"
Governor Dewine did not say when he expects to hold the primary, but mentioned in a tweet Tuesday evening his administration submitted a plan to preserve voters' rights by setting a tentative in-person voting date for June 2nd.
Ohio isn't alone in making this kind of decision.
Governor Larry Hogan, -R- Maryland, announced the state will postpone its primary, originally set for April 28th, to early June.
Maryland confirmed 17 new cases of COVID-19 in the state on Tuesday from Monday, the largest per-day increase in the state sine the outbreak began there.
There are 57 cases of COVID-19 in Maryland as of Tuesday evening.
Governor Hogan says on top of the health risks the outbreak poses, Maryland needs to focus on testing people for the virus.
""No, we don't have enough tests uh kits and neither does any other state and no, the federal government does not have an answer." The Governor said during a daily briefing in Annapolis. "Testing is a problem, uh the the the equipment, personal protective equipment is a problem."
Governor Hogan did say mail-only ballots would be accepted on April 28th for the special election to replace the state's late Congressman Elijah Cummings.
To the South, Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams announced the primary election is being pushed back to late June. It was originally set for May 19th.
Secretary Adams says the move is the first step in buying the state time to keep people safe during the outbreak, "postponing the primary was not an easy decision, but the Republican Secretary of State and the Democratic Governor agree, and so do the county clerks of both parties, and they are our frontline election administrators."
Under Kentucky state law, a primary election can be postponed as long as it has the joint approval of the Governor and Secretary of State.
Georgia and Louisiana also rescheduled their primary elections, as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to rise in those states.
In the Keystone State, Governor Tom Wolf, -D- Pennsylvania, is encouraging voters to apply for mail-in ballots for the state's primary election on April 28th. This will be the first election cycle where Pennsylvania voters have a mail-in option without requiring an excuse.
Voters in Bucks County are voting in a special election to fill a vacant seat in the Pennsylvania House Representative Tuesday, despite COVID-19 concerns.
A county judge rejected postponing the special election, saying he couldn't find the legal authority to do so.
Two other special elections to fill vacancies in the House went on as scheduled Tuesday for seats based in Mercer and Westmoreland counties. There are no cases of COVID-19 in either county, as of Tuesday evening.
There are 96 cases of the Coronavirus in Pennsylvania, as of Tuesday evening, a breakdown of the cases by county can be viewed in the graphic below.
The White House asked Americans to avoid groups of more than ten people, on Monday, to help flatten the curve of the Coronavirus outbreak.