(Reuters) – Ohio was holding nominating contests largely by mail on Tuesday after voting originally scheduled for March 17 was delayed and in-person balloting curtailed, as the coronavirus pandemic further disrupted the U.S. election season.
A Voter fills out a provisional ballot authorisation form for the presidential primary elections at the Franklin County Board of Election office, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Paul Vernon
Ohio was among the first states to delay its primaries as lockdowns in response to the spread of the deadly respiratory virus spread rapidly across the United States last month, leading an unprecedented 1.9 million voters in the state to request absentee ballots.
Some voters, election officials and voting-rights watchdogs have warned that the surge has overwhelmed election officials and the U.S. Postal Service, meaning many voters will not have received a ballot in time. [n