Tracking the Changes to Ohio’s 2020 Primary Election Caused by Coronavirus

Coronavirus has changed the daily behavior and activities of millions of Ohioans, but it has also affected events that are much more infrequent, like elections.

Ohio’s primary election was originally scheduled for March 17, and was slated to continue as planned, unaffected by the presence of coronavirus in Ohio since February 12, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Now, Ohioans have until April 28 to request a ballot from their county board of elections, fill out that ballot, and mail it back to their board of elections, postmarked by April 27 to be counted.

By March 16, the virus had grown from one case to just under 1,000, and with the primary election only 24 hours away, a judge from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas rejected a request from the state to postpone voting until June 2.

Hours later, Gov. Mike DeWine and Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton declared a public health emergency and used that declaration to officially cancel in-person voting the next day. The order was based on the fear that holding an election as scheduled would cause thousands of instances of physical interaction that otherwise was being advised against.

DeWine tweeted when the cancellation of in-person voting was announced, citing concern that the increased rate of physical contact at polling places could potentially spread the virus further. Most of the feared spread would likely have been conducted by people who could infect others before showing any symptoms themselves. Kent State Professor of Epidemiology Dr. Tara Smith said in a recent Facebook Live Q&A that anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of transmissions of the virus happen when the infectious person is not showing any symptoms.

At a local level, however, board of election officials and polling place volunteers had to prepare as if the election was happening as planned until they had firm confirmation otherwise.

“So we proceeded as if the election was going to take place, one because that was the only viable option,” Deputy Director of Portage County’s Board of Elections Terry Nielsen said. “It’s much easier to call people off than to call people on.”

Nielsen said Portage County is prepared and supports expanding absentee mail-in voting for a variety of reasons. The system could increase access to voting for those who may not be able to get to a polling location in a specific certain amount of time, as well as be useful during a public health crisis like the coronavirus.

While Nielsen supports the expansion of the system, she said it would require work on the logistical side, as well as education of the public on how to correctly fill out an application and indicate which party’s ballot they want to receive to do an expansion of mail-in voting right.

“We would love to be a vote by mail, but you can’t do vote by mail at the turn of a hat because it’s a completely different process,” Nielsen said. “We would get different machinery, and we’re in the middle of this coronavirus so we have to think of the health of our employees.”

When the Portage County Board receives an application, Nielsen said they usually have a ballot sent back to the individual within a day or two. While factoring in the three to five days of travel from the post office, Nielsen said it is important for people to request their ballot early to minimize the risk of not submitting their ballot on time.

Portage County had 5,000 votes submitted in what Nielsen called “Phase One” of this election, meaning people who participated in early in-person voting, or submitted their mail-in ballot before March 17. She said they sent out 10,000 ballots from their office over the course of the last week, and hopes the extended voting window will lead to more people voting.

The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the decision on the morning of what would have been the election to postpone on the basis of protecting public health. DeWine said Secretary of State Frank LaRose and the state board of elections would be in charge of forming a plan for how to complete the primary, and plan for what Ohio’s election could look like in November if the coronavirus is still a factor.

Originally, LaRose and DeWine wanted in-person voting to simply be postponed until June and absentee mail-in voting would be extended as well. Eventually, only an extension in absentee mail-in voting was approved, with additional in-person voting on April 28 allowed for those with disabilities or without a mailing address to receive a ballot.

However, some voting rights groups don’t think the changes went far enough. Executive Director of the Ohio League of Women Voters Jen Miller said that Ohio’s mail-in system should have been improved before attempting to make this change.

“We have a very cumbersome and clunky absentee process that serves a small number of individuals every election and now we are trying to serve millions,” Miller said. “So, there are concerns with the system, but there are also concerns with the timeline.”

Miller said in a typical vote-by-mail state election, voters receive a ballot and have eight to ten weeks to fill it out and respond. In Ohio’s new adjusted primary voters have about four to five weeks to request a ballot, fill it out and return it.

College students voting is also a significant concern for Miller, as she said some college students may be registered to vote at the address of their dorm or apartment for school, meaning they may have to apply with the county where they live for only part of the year.

However, many of those students may not be living at those addresses while social distancing and completing their schoolwork online.

Like Nielsen, Miller also emphasizes applying for a ballot as early as possible, and making sure the application is filled out correctly, requesting the correct ballot be sent to the correct address.

The League of Women Voters, Miller said, is concerned that one-time ballot issues or important state government seats could be decided in an election that was not prepared for well enough and is being executed through a system that still has flaws.

Some improvements Miller suggests for Ohio’s election process include:

• Online requests for absentee mail-in ballots so voters don’t have to mail in a request, which she said could save time.
• Inclusion of prepaid postage with a ballot for voters to use to return their completed ballot.
• More early voting locations, which could help with social distancing by reducing crowds at a single location.
• More places to drop off an absentee ballot.

Nielsen and Miller both encourage voters to inform themselves with tools like the League of Women Voters online voter guide so they can receive their ballot and return it quickly to make sure it is counted.

Voters still have two weeks to submit their ballot, which can be requested by printing the ballot request form online or calling their local board of elections to have the ballot request form mailed to them. Anyone who submitted a ballot prior to the changes to the election on March 17 do not need to submit a second ballot, and the results from the primary will be announced on May 8 after all ballots postmarked by April 27 and received by 7:30 p.m. on April 28 are counted.