WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ohio will hold its primary election on Tuesday, a virtually all-mail contest that could serve as a test case for voting in the coronavirus era.
FILE PHOTO: Patrick Kapple, right, waits in line outside Riverside University High School to cast a ballot during the presidential primary election held amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. April 7, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Acker
Citing public health concerns, the state’s legislature moved back the date of the primary, originally slated for March 17, to April 28 and sharply curtailed in-person voting.
It’s a glimpse of what the presidential contest might look like in November if COVID-19 remains a threat. But some voters, election officials and voting-rights watchdogs are already alarmed: Ohio’s system has been overwhelmed by the crush of requests for absentee ballots, a situation that could disenfranchise potentially tens of thousands of voters.
“I’ve been here 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Brent Lawler, a manager at the board of elections in Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland and more registered voters than any other Ohio county.
More than 1.9 million Ohio voters requested to vote absentee in Tuesday’s primary, a 421% increase from absentee turnout in the 2016 primary, according to state election data.
The state’s election offices were required by law to mail ballots to any voters whose applications they received by noon on Saturday, April 25. At least 37,000 absentee ballots were mailed out on Saturday, county election data show.
But many of those ballots likely won’t arrive in voters’ mailboxes in time, the U.S. Postal Service warned in an April 20 email sent to election officials in Ohio’s 88 counties that was reviewed by Reuters. Voters must return their absentee ballots with a postmark no later than today for them to be counted, according to election rules laid down by the legislature.
“There is a strong likelihood that the timing for mailing out ballots may not allow adequate time for voters to receive the ballot and return it by mail in time to meet the state’s postmark deadline,” the U.S. Postal Service email said.
Ohio initially restricted in-person Election Day voting for tomorrow’s primary to the disabled and anyone lacking an address where they can receive mail. The Secretary of State on April 17 advised election officials to allow voters who did not receive their absentee ballots to cast in-person provisional ballots, which must be evaluated by officials to ensure their validity.
But there will only be one polling place in each county, making them difficult to access for many residents and raising the prospect of long lines. By contrast, Ohio had more