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THERE WAS SOME CONFUSION TO THIS. KELLY: RIGHT. DEWINE ASKED A JUDGE TO PUSH BACK THE DATE, BUT WHEN THAT DIDN’T WORK, HIS ADMINISTRATION DECISION. WLWT NEWS 5’S ANDREW SETTERS IS LIVE TO EXPLAIN THIS LEGAL BATTLE. ANDREW, MANY PEOPLE WENT TO BED THINKING THE ELECTION WAS STILL ON. YOU ARE AT IT WILL A WHERE YOU HAVE SEEN SOME PEOPLE SHOW UP. ANDREW: YES, WE HAD A POLL WORKER SHOW UP. IT HAS BEEN A CONFUSING TIME FOR PEOPLE. THE MESSAGE CERTAINLY NOT GETTING TO EVERYONE THAT THE POLLS ARE CLOSED TODAY. BECAUSE OF A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY ORDER ISSUED LAST NIGHT BY THE STATE OF OHIO. THERE WAS A WHIRLWIND OF CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE EVENING YESTERDAY. GOVERNOR MIKE DEWINE SAID HE WANTED THE POLLS CLOSED, CITING HEALTH RISKS TO POLL WORKERS AND THE DANGER OF CROWDS GATHERING. HE ADMITTED IT WAS IS A DIGESTION AND HE DID NOT HAVE THE POWER TO CLOSE THE POLLS. HE ASKED THE COURTS TO DO IT THE OHIO HEALTH DIRECTOR ISSUED THE WORD DID NOT GET TO PULL WORKERS, AT LEAST NOT ONE, WHO SHOULD APPEAR THIS MORNING. >> I CAME TO WORK THE POLLS. I WAS TOLD LAST NIGHT NIGHT THAT SOME OF THE PEOPLE WOULD BE HERE AT 5:00. NOBODY CALLED ME THIS MORNING, SO I DID NOT KNOW. ANDREW: THAT ORDER FROM DR. AMY ACTON, THE OHIOHEALTH DIRECTOR, SAID SHE ISSUED THE ORDER BECAUSE OF THE HIGH PROBABILITY OF SPREAD OF COVID-19 AND A SIGNIFICANT RISK OF HARM TO A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE. SO AS OF RIGHT NOW, THE POLLS IN OHIO ARE SET TO REMAIN CLOSED TODAY. THE GOVERNOR SAID THEY WILL GO BACK TO THE COURTS TO COME UP WITH SOME KIND OF REMEDY SO PEOPLE CAN CONTINUE TO VOTE. HE IS HOPING TO EXTEND THE DEADLINE FOR VOTING TO JUNE 2. NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE YET. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AS YOU GET UP THIS MORNING, POLLING LOCATIONS ARE CLOSED I ORDER OF THE OHIOHEALTH DIRECTOR. LIFE, ANDREW SETTERS, WLWT NEWS FIVE. KELLY: ANDREW, THANK YOU. CINCINNATI MAYOR JOHN CRANLEY ISSUED A STATEMENT DISAGREEING WITH THE ELECTION DELA HE SAID, "I WORRY THAT THE PRECEDENT COULD HAUNT FUTURE ELECTIONS BY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT MOTIVATED BY THE SAME PUBLIC GOOD. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT THERE

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Ohio called off its presidential primary just hours before polls were set to open there and in three other states, an 11th-hour decision Gov. Mike DeWine said was necessary to prevent further fueling the coronavirus pandemic.Health Director Amy Acton declared a health emergency that would prevent the polls from opening out of fear of exposing voters and volunteer poll workers - many of them elderly - to the virus."While the polls will be closed tomorrow, Secretary of State Frank LaRose will seek a remedy through the courts to extend voting options so that every voter who wants to vote will be granted that opportunity," DeWine said in a statement Monday.DeWine failed to get a judge to halt the primary Monday evening, even though the governor contended the election results wouldn't be viewed as legitimate in light of the pandemic. “To conduct an election tomorrow would would force poll workers and voters to place themselves at a unacceptable health risk of contracting coronavirus,” he said. DeWine recommended that Tuesday's primary be delayed until June because of the coronavirus crisis. LaRose posted on the Secretary of State website that in-person voting will take place on June 2. The governor issued a statement amid the judge's decision, saying, "The only thing more important than a free and fair election is the health and safety of Ohioans. The Ohio Department of Health and the CDC have advised against anyone gathering in groups larger than 50 people, which will occur if the election goes forward. Additionally, Ohioans over 65 and those with certain health conditions have been advised to limit their nonessential contact with others, affecting their ability to vote or serve as poll workers. Logistically, under these extraordinary circumstances, it simply isn't possible to hold an election tomorrow that will be considered legitimate by Ohioans. They mustn't be forced to choose between their health and exercising their constitutional rights." President Donald Trump reacted to DeWine's decision to postpone the Ohio primary Tuesday during the White House briefing."The governor of Ohio is going a great job," Trump said during the conference. "If he called it off, I understand that."When asked what he plans moving forward with elections in the future, Trump said, "The best thing we can do is get rid of the virus."LaRose released a directive giving instructions to board of election officials and voters across the state. The directive ordered all board of election offices to post notices on their websites, social media, at the board of elections and at polling places that in-person voting for the Tuesday presidential primary election is suspended.It also states that boards of elections are prohibited from processing any new voter registrations for the June 2 presidential primary election. The February 18, 2020 voter registration deadline remains the voter registration deadline.LaRose said Ohioans can request an absentee ballot up until May 26 and they must be postmarked no later than June 1.All votes already submitted by mail or in-person will count, LaRose said. Only those registered to vote by the primary deadline of Feb. 17 are eligible to vote. View the full directive here.