Ohio officials chose to close the state's polls on Tuesday after health experts changed their opinions "dramatically" on the recommended numbers regarding crowd sizes and the spread of coronavirus, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Tuesday.
"It was simply untenable for us to continue telling Ohioans to go to the polls, so the governor made a difficult, but ultimately the right decision," LaRose said on CNN's "New Day."
On Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that there be no gatherings involving 50 or more people over the next 8 weeks, but on Monday, the White House shrunk that number to 10 people, and in Ohio, people over the age of 65 were advised to stay in their homes unless they found it absolutely necessary to leave.
"Under those circumstances, there was no way that in good conscience we could order an election, and certainly not a legitimate election, given that we were telling a large portion of the population that they should not come to the polls," LaRose said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced late Monday that the polls would be closed after state Health Director Dr. Amy Acton ordered that they not open because of the "imminent threat with a high probability of widespread exposure to COVID-19."
LaRose also issued a directive to the state's counties to inform them the primary would be delayed until June 2. He said that it's hoped that the "decisive action" DeWine has taken, and President Donald Trump's actions, along with the sacrifices being made by Americans will "help us get to a point where this insidious enemy that we face right now is defeated by June 2."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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