U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said he is worried that President Donald Trump will use the delay of Ohio’s primary election Tuesday as precedent for moving the general election in November.

Late Monday night, Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton ordered the polls closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a directive to county boards of elections telling them to comply with Acton’s order, extend absentee voting and to prepare for in-person voting June 2 instead.

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The decision, made less than nine hours before polls were to open Tuesday by Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration and LaRose, is now the subject of several lawsuits.

“My concern is that in the age of Trump that other governors might think, or that the president might ask, for a delay in the November election based on something, perhaps this, perhaps something else,” Brown said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

“We can’t let this be a precedent. I’m hopeful the governor and legislature will come together and do this earlier.”

Brown, a Democrat, has widely praised the response of DeWine, a Republican, to the coronavirus outbreak. On Wednesday, Brown said he had “mixed feelings” about closing the polls and moving Election Day in Ohio.

“I wish they had done this earlier. I think they could have done this on Friday. He’s in the arena doing this, I’m not,” he said of DeWine. “I’m not super critical of him. I just wish they had done this earlier.”

LaRose has said his office chose June 2 as the new in-person voting date because it was the latest an election could be administered in time to select delegates for the Democratic National Convention, scheduled for about a month before the GOP gathering. But Brown said Wednesday that he hopes the General Assembly moves the Ohio primary to an earlier date so that agencies pursuing levies will know whether to expect their funding.

Brown said the decision also opens up the discussion about moving to a national vote-by-mail system.

rrouan@dispatch.com

@RickRouan