COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio’s polling places are closed on what was to have been the state’s presidential primary, following an overnight ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court.

The Ohio Supreme Court effectively allowed the election to be postponed from March 17 in a remarkable early-morning decision on a complaint from a Wood County judicial candidate.

After requiring the state to respond before 1:30 a.m., citing the “exigent circumstances," four judges issued an unsigned decision unanimously rejecting the complaint, which had been filed before Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration issued a public health order closing the polls over the new coronavirus. Two judges running for re-election — Justices Judith French and Sharon Kennedy — and Pat DeWine, who is DeWine’s son, did not participate.

Referring to a separate state-backed lawsuit that a Franklin County judge declined to act on earlier Monday evening, Corey Spewiek argued that courts had no right to try to block the election date, which is set in law.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, and Justice Pat Fisher, both Republicans, and Justices Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart, both Democrats, disagreed. They did not explain their reasoning.

The Supreme Court proceedings began before Gov. Mike DeWine’s health department director ordered the polls closed in an emergency public health order that cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. DeWine said voters should not be made to choose between their health and their right to vote.

The winding legal proceedings and confusion over what the Franklin County judge had ruled led to chaos within state government and county elections boards last night. One state lawmaker called the decision a “constitutional crisis.”

But Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s top elections official, has said the state’s polls are closed.

Ohio’s polls are NOT open today. Gov. DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton have ordered polling locations closed to prevent the spread of the deadly Coronavirus. Visit https://t.co/FwEp965Ddj for the latest — Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) March 17, 2020

In a late-night text message, LaRose said he has directed county boards of election to hold the primary on June 2, with absentee ballots accepted until June 1. It’s unclear whether the move will prompt additional lawsuits.

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