Primary election date remains uncertain

Ohio election officials were still grappling Friday with whether to hold the primary election on May 3 as originally scheduled in the wake of a court decision rejecting proposed legislative district maps. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has prohibited elections boards across the state from altering ballots or sending any military or overseas ballots until further notice. LaRose also ordered elections boards to pause on any reprogramming of voter registration and tabulating systems. On the other hand, LaRose told elections boards to keep preparing for a May 3 primary by recruiting and training poll workers, Hancock County Elections Board Director Jody Beall O'Brien said Friday. The uncertainty comes after the Ohio Supreme Court for the third time Wednesday rejected House and Senate district maps submitted by the Republican-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission. The decision came even as ballots were being prepared for the May 3 primary. So with legislative district boundaries still up in the air, the decision could have ended hope of a May 3 primary for legislative races. The Ohio Supreme Court ordered the Ohio Redistricting Commission to draw a new set of state House and Senate district maps by March 28. It is now too late to hold elections on May 3 for state representatives and state senators, LaRose said. LaRose is a Republican, and as secretary of state, is a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The secretary of state does not have the power to change Ohio's primary election date. LaRose said that decision now must come from the Legislature or "immediate action of a federal court." U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley, who had paused a connected lawsuit by a group of Republican voters despite their pleas for speed, indicated Thursday that he would "take up this matter promptly." Meanwhile, a growing chorus of interest groups and politicians of both parties has begun calling on lawmakers to delay the primary to June or even August. Wilin: 419-427-8413