OH Vote-by-Mail Presidential Primary April 28th

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) on Friday, March 27th signed into Law (HB 197), an Omnibus Bill with myriad Responses to the Coronavirus Threat.

Among the Changes in the New Law are Alterations to the Presidential Primary which will be a Predominantly a Vote-by-Mail System in which Voting will conclude on April 28th. This Change will potentially be felt in the Delegate Selection Process.

Ohio Democrats are in something of an Advantageous Position, at least compared to some other States. District Delegate slates for each Active Candidate were Selected in Pre-Primary Caucuses back in January 2020, the First Selection Event on the Calendar. Which District Delegate Candidates on those Slates fill Slots Allocated to Candidates depends on the Results of the Primary. Democrats in Ohio already had a fairly Mobile Selection Process for the Selection.

And Statewide Delegate Selection is somewhat Insulated from the Shift to April 28th. The Ohio Democratic Party State Executive Committee, not a Broader State Convention, is set in the Party's Delegate Selection Plan to choose At-Large and PLEO (Super) Delegates in a Meeting on May 9th, after the New Primary Date. That likely will Not have to Change other than perhaps how the Executive Committee Meets. That will more than likely be done Remotely rather than In-Person now.

The only real hang-up in the Delegate Selection Plan that Ohio Democrats have laid out is the Contingency for Filling any District Delegate Slots Allocated to Candidates who Failed to File a Full Slate of Delegate Candidates back in January. Those Post-Primary Caucuses to Fill those Spots were originally set for April 16th. That could still occur at that time, operating much like the Pre-Primary Caucuses in January did, but the Insurance Slating would occur before the Primary Results are in under that Scenario. The intention was to allow Candidates Allocated Delegates in the Primary to Fill those Slots if they Failed to do so during the January Caucuses.

That may necessitate a move in those Caucuses. Then again, with the Field narrowed to just Two Candidates, there may now be less need for either Biden or Sanders to Slate any Additional District Delegate Candidates.

UPDATE

Voting Rights Advocacy Groups have Sued to Stop Ohio from conducting its Primaries in Four weeks with almost No In-Person Voting.

The Lawsuit, filed in Federal Court Monday, is the latest Challenging efforts to keep Electoral Democracy going during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

But it appears to be the First Alleging the Backup Plan favored most by Democracy Reformers, switching to Vote-at-Home, is Inappropriate if Implemented too Quickly.

The Groups Allege that the State's Plan Violates Federal Law and both the First and Fourteenth Amendments by Not Providing more than a Month to Prepare for, and Inform Voters about, a Primary in which almost every Ballot will be Delivered by Mail.










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