How Coronavirus Will Impact Ohio's March 17 Primary

COLUMBUS, OH — Due to fears of the new coronavirus, officials will move approximately 125 voting locations to ensure the safety of Ohioans during the March 17 primary, Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Tuesday.

The impacted poll locations are all located in nursing homes and senior living homes. LaRose said every affected Ohioan will be notified of their polling location change, by mail and by other means. Updates on where those polling locations will be moved to can also be found on the secretary of state's website.

Health officials have said senior citizens are most vulnerable to the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

LaRose said the state would not move polling locations inside schools, calling such a decision "impractical" and "not feasible." However, if school officials had concerns, LaRose said, they could cancel instruction that day.

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"First and foremost our top priority is the health and safety of our fellow Ohioans," LaRose said during a Tuesday morning press conference. There are more than 3,500 polling locations in Ohio and more than 35,000 people will serve as poll workers on March 17, the secretary of state said.

LaRose said he is working with boards of election in all of Ohio's 88 conferences on sanitizing voting machines and ensuring they have hand sanitizer for voters. "Those health guidelines are meant to keep both our poll workers and our voters safe," LaRose said.

Voters are also being encouraged to complete vote-by-mail ballots or to attend early voting hours. Early voting will continue all week, LaRose said. Anyone concerned their absentee ballot would be mailed after the deadline can drop-off their ballot at their board of election. All boards of election will also offer curbside pickup of ballots.

LaRose said he hopes fear of COVID-19 won't depress voter turnout.

"My team has worked tirelessly to make sure voting is safe," said Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health. "Voting is so important."

Acton and LaRose also insisted that poll workers will be safe and their job will pose little risk to them. "It will be a safe experience for both poll workers and voters," the secretary of state said.

Ohio's first confirmed cases of COVID-19, were discovered this week. All three infected people live in Cuyahoga County, health officials said Monday afternoon.

Two students at Solon High School were also asked to self-quarantine after possibly coming in contact with one of the infected person. A staffer at the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland has also been quarantined.

There are currently 755 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in the U.S. and 22 related deaths as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.