Ohioans awoke today to a surreal Election Day with no election.

Early Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court denied a legal challenge to the state delaying the primary. A candidate in Wood County had filed the action Monday alleging the delay of the primary violated election laws.

Only four justices participated in the ruling, which was issued without an opinion. After the court ordered the state to respond by 1:30 a.m., with the state quickly filing a motion to dismiss, the justices cast their votes shortly before 4 a.m.

Justices Judith French and Sharon Kennedy, who are seeking re-election this year, and Justice Patrick DeWine, the governor's son, recused themselves from participating.

That decision does not affect a separate court case in which a Franklin County judge ruled Monday night against the state’s attempt to delay the primary. That ruling was appealed.

The legal action capped a chaotic 12 hours in which it appeared the election was off, back on, and then off again.

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Late Monday night, Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton ordered polls closed Tuesday as a health emergency.

In her order, Acton said the extraordinary shutdown is needed "to avoid the imminent threat with a high probability of widespread exposure to COVID-19 with a significant risk of substantial harm to a large number of the people in the general population, including the elderly and people with weakened immune systems and chronic medical conditions."

She added, "To conduct an election at this time would force poll workers and voters to face an unacceptable risk of contracting COVID-19."

"During this time when we face an unprecedented public health crisis, to conduct an election tomorrow would would force poll workers and voters to place themselves at a unacceptable health risk of contracting coronavirus," said Gov. Mike DeWine in a statement.

While state officials pushed for the primary to be rescheduled for June 2, a court may have to OK that plan.

"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," the governor said.

During a press conference Monday afternoon, DeWine and LaRose said they didn’t have the legal authority to delay or call off an election. Thus they sought a court order, through a pair of private plaintiffs who sued the state.

But when a Franklin County judge didn’t go along with that gambit, they turned to the health director, who under state law has enormous powers during a health crisis.

Whether those powers extend to shutting down an election will undoubtedly be further tested in court.

In the complaint denied by the Ohio Supreme Court, Corey Speweik of Bowling Green, a candidate in a contested Republican primary for Wood County Common Pleas Court, filed the case against the Wood County Board of Elections and LaRose, arguing a "judical fiat" could not change the election date.

Speweik’s lawyer, Andy Mayle, condemned the late decision by DeWine and LaRose: "We think they waited on purpose until the 11th hour."

While the Supreme Court action dealt with an attempt to keep Ohio’s polls open, the Franklin County case was a separate legal action that sought to halt the election.

In a telephone interview with CNN's Don Lemon about 10:30 p.m., LaRose was asked if the state was defying a judge's order.

"I'm not an attorney," he replied.

LaRose said certainty was needed with the polls scheduled to open in less than eight hours, adding the fate of the election couldn't rest on "appeals in the middle of the night."

"The director of the Department of Health has broad authority to protect the lives of Ohioans," LaRose said.

The Franklin County judge’s ruling was appealed late Monday night to the 10th District Court of Appeals.

Lawsuits are expected Tuesday seeking to allow additional days for absentee balloting and to perhaps move the election to a date other than June 2.

Rep. Emilia Sykes of Akron, Ohio House Democratic leader, noted the Legislative Black Caucus had called days ago for the legislature to re-convene to deal with coronavirus issues.

"I am deeply disappointed with how this situation was handled," she said in a late-night release. "This is why Ohio needs to update its archaic system and modernize voting like so many other states have, so we can adapt to emergencies. I hope the missteps we have seen tonight lead to a much deeper discussion at a later time about increasing accessibility to the ballot box."

Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said, ""While we are disappointed in the chaotic process that we saw unfold over the last few days, we do agree with the outcome: it is not safe or practical to hold the primary election (Tuesday). ...

"Postponing an election is never ideal, but the health and safety of the public is paramount during this coronavirus outbreak. Ohio’s election laws do not contemplate how to run an election during a global pandemic, and voters should not have to choose between their health and participating in democracy."

DeWine and LaRose foreshadowed the health director’s move about an hour earlier, saying in a joint statement, "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."

That statement followed a Monday night ruling by Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Frye denying the attempt to postpone Election Day until June 2 because of the coronavirus outbreak, which immediate generated confusion over whether Ohioans actually would be voting Tuesday or not.

Frye said it would set a "terrible precedent" for a judge to step in 12 hours before polls open to rewrite the Ohio election code.

Making matters worse, many poll workers across the state had been prematurely told to stop setting up polling places Monday night and not to come in Tuesday because the election already had been delayed — when it hadn’t.

Even late Monday night, Franklin County Elections Director Ed Leonard said he was waiting to see Acton's order before complying and notifying poll workers.

"I want to see the order. I’ve talked with our county prosecutor. Before we take any action he wants us to see the order," Leonard said.

When the order finally arrived, Leonard told poll workers to stand down.

In a directive to county boards of elections late Monday, LaRose ordered them to post notice online that Tuesday’s voting was suspended, barred them from processing new voter registrations for a possible primary election on June 2, and told them to prepare for in-person voting June 2.

Even the experts were scratching their heads about the evening’s seemingly contradictory developments. About 8:30 p.m., Aaron Ockerman, head of the Ohio Association of Elections Officials, said, "At this point in the evening, it is almost impossible for boards of elections or the secretary of state to give a concrete answer as to what the plan for tomorrow is."

Adding to the mess, elections workers told prematurely to go home were called back in to make a hasty attempt to pull off Tuesday’s vote, set to begin at 6:30 a.m.

Of course, they had to be contacted yet again when the election was called off for real.

Franklin County was among those spreading false information that the election already had been postponed after DeWine and LaRose’s press conference Monday afternoon.

The court action in Franklin County attempting to halt Tuesday’s Ohio primary was filed by two Franklin County voters, both over 65.

Former Ohio Department of Aging Director Judith Brachman is one of the plaintiffs. Brachman, 81, told The Dispatch that she wanted to ensure that elderly voters didn’t have to make a choice between their health and voting.

"I’m concerned about other older adults. I don’t want others to have a problem based on their wanting to go vote and potentially getting exposed to something," said Brachman, who worked with DeWine when he was lieutenant governor under Gov. George V. Voinovich.

The other plaintiff, Jill Reardon, said in an affidavit: "I was recently treated for pancreatic cancer and had a reoccurrence of renal cell carcinoma. I also suffer from severe immune deficiency. I have not yet voted in Ohio’s primary election. I should not be forced to make the choice between my health and my constitutional right to vote in the election. If the primary election is held on March 17, 2020 I will have to make that choice."

The state did not oppose the request for a court order delaying the election.

But after hearing 30 minutes of arguments in favor of and against the requested temporary restraining order, Frye would not go along with the state officials’ request.

He prefaced his remarks by pointing out that the dangers of the coronavirus have been known for months and that the plaintiffs "have not acted in a timely manner."

But much of his focus simply was on the Ohio Revised Code, he said, under which "it is the Ohio General Assembly that sets the election date and not the court system."

"As of tonight, the governor has not called an emergency session of the legislature to cancel the election, the president of the Senate has not done so, the speaker of the House has not done so, at least so far as has been reported to the court," Frye said.

"The thousands of dollars and innumerable hours spent by candidates, gearing toward (Tuesday) as the long-set election day, is another part of the public interest. Those dollars and those hours and those volunteer hours may not be able to be reset for some date in the future without irreparable harm to the candidates and the people who support them … and works against the argument that moving the election isn’t going to hurt anybody."

The judge also said, "The notion that we postpone the primary … presupposes that the health situation in America gets better. We have no medical evidence here today to suggest that will be the case."

He said he’s also "anxious" about the thousands of people who voted early. "I’m worried about their apprehension of the security of their ballots… being lost and that they’ll be disenfranchised if we postpone this thing."

Frye said state officials should have sought other remedies before turning to the court system.

"When the legislature does not reconvene and when the governor has not even called them to reconvene, I’m very reluctant to undermine (the Ohio election code) and say, ’Well, we’ll have a judge in Columbus rewrite the election code, reset the election to some arbitrary date in the future and upset the apple cart in a terrible precedent …

"There are too many factors to balance in this uncharted territory to say that we ought to take it away from the legislature and elected statewide officials and throw it to a Common Pleas Court judge in Columbus with 12 hours to go before the election."

Republican state Rep. Niraj Antani, who is seeking a Senate seat in the Cincinnati area, appeared on his own behalf to argue that the moving of an election is "the exclusive purview of the General Assembly" under the Revised Code and not within the purview of the judiciary.

During the press conference Monday, LaRose said, "We know that it would not be safe" to hold a primary election Tuesday.

DeWine added, "I think when we look back on this, we're going to be glad we did this. The rights of voters will be preserved."

DeWine said, "Is it a perfect decision? Absolutely not. But we believe it’s the best of bad alternatives. And it does preserve people’s constitutional rights and does not require them to choose between their health and their constitutional right."

"Suspending in-person voting is a serious matter," LaRose said. "We have tried to do everything we could to avoid that. All along we have taken our advice from the public health professionals. Obviously this situation has evolved quickly over the last few days."

Last week, LaRose joined secretaries of state from Illinois, Florida and Arizona in saying Election Day would go on as scheduled in those states Tuesday.

But guidance from public health officials and information about the spread of the virus changed quickly, DeWine said.

"Not only do the facts continue to change, but quite bluntly the public’s understanding of the facts continue to change," he said, noting that someone who decided a week ago they didn’t need to file an absentee ballot might feel differently now.

Ohio GOP Chairman Jane Timken said in a statement, "We fully support this recommendation, while knowing how difficult this will be on our candidates and their campaigns."

Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper said: "In deference to their expertise on this critical health crisis, I support that decision regarding in-person voting."

But Pepper said he wants Ohio to explore holding the primary entirely by mail with a deadline much earlier than June 2, so that polling places don't have to open at all, given that the virus may still be active.

The day’s developments followed a week of scrambling by elections officials to prepare for Election Day under the cloud of a global pandemic. Ohio has 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and hundreds more under investigation.

On Sunday, LaRose issued a directive to extend the deadline for requesting absentee ballots for voters who are "unforeseeably confined or hospitalized" and ordered 88 local boards of elections to offer curbside voting for anyone concerned about entering their polling place.

LaRose had issued a directive Sunday to local boards of election alerting them to the changes.

That followed an order last week to move polling locations from senior living facilities and a dash by local boards of elections to acquire sanitary supplies.

>> Read the directive from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose [PDF]

Boards also were to offer curbside voting Tuesday at precinct polling locations for voters concerned about going inside the voting location. But the voter requesting that must send someone else in to inform precinct officials about tbhe desire to vote that way.

Elections officials redoubled efforts to recruit poll workers last week as some who had committed canceled. They ordered sanitary supplies and started asking voters to create more space between themselves in lines.

Last week, LaRose directed county boards of elections to move about 125 polling places out of senior living facilities and to notify voters who would be affected by the shift. Franklin County relocated 16 polling locations.

Voting machine manufacturers have instructed elections officials on how to sanitize equipment, and LaRose’s office has said it will reimburse local boards of elections for buying disinfecting wipes, disposable gloves and other sanitizing supplies.

Dispatch Public Affairs Editor Darrel Rowland and Reporters Randy Ludlow, Marc Kovac and Cole Behrens contributed to this story.

rrouan@dispatch.com

@RickRouan