CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, COLUMBUS, Ohio- Ohio Gov Mike DeWine, a Republican elected to office in 2018 and a former U.S. senator, announced late Monday night that polls will be closed in Ohio on Tuesday, March 17 for the state's Democratic presidential primary in spite of a ruling by a Democratic judge against the measure, DeWine citing health concerns as to the coronavirus outbreak, particularly regarding the elderly.

It follows orders by the governor to close K-12 schools, effective Monday, and that forbid eating inside restaurants, coupled with a host of other precautionary measures suggested by state officials and the Centers for Disease Control, including the recommendations of avoiding gatherings of more than 50 people, staying home when sick, and getting tested if symptoms like fever and chills develop.

How long the delay in the election will last remains to be seen, sources saying it might be in June at the latest, though many Ohioans have already voted either by mail or via early voting.

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

The decision by state officials to shut down the polls in the pivotal state of Ohio  was sanctioned by state Department of Health Director Dr. Amy, if not directed, and came in response to a lawsuit filed by two elderly Franklin county voters, Franklin County the largest of 88 counties statewide, and of which includes the capital city of Columbus.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Frye, a Democrat, sided with a GOP elections attorney and Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, and ruled against plaintiffs Jill Reardon and Judy Brockman in the lawsuit, both of them over 65.

The judge said the request was too late and in the twilight hour, the subsequent close of the polls Tuesday undertaken in part, said DeWine, to provide time for the case, which is on appeal, to make its way through the courts.

The lawsuit argues in part that health fears will keep some elderly voters away from the polls and that it would have been unconstitutional to go forward.

DeWine said his objective in putting a halt to Ohio's primary in the midst of a health crisis of large proportions was to protect the constructional right to vote of all Ohio voters.

Meanwhile, Ohio's Republican-dominated state legislature is discussing changing the date of the election, which it has the authority to do, within reason.

Black activists and Black leaders of greater Cleveland were concerned that continuing the election in spite of the cornavirus pandemic would compromise the Black vote, and might violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which precludes discrimination in voting.

Before DeWine's decision to postpone Ohio's primary, Black activists of Cleveland had said that they would hold the Republicans accountable if the Black vote were compromised relative to the controversy.

Early last week the governor announced that the first three confirmed cases of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, are residents of Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland.

Since then several cases of the virus have popped up in Ohio, and in other counties such as Trumbull County where a 55-year-old man succumbed to the disease, a second case just announced there this week, and the patient a Black man.

There are 26 confirmed cases in Ohio, but no fatalities, yet.

The infectious disease, which has impacted China and Italy disproportionately, spans across 49 states and New Mexico, and has infected more than 196,603 people around the world, with some  7,925 deaths worldwide.

There are more than  5,523 cases in the U.S. alone.

Some 97 people have died to date in the U.S. relative to the deadly virus.

The field of more than 20 Democratic candidates for president has now been essentially narrowed down to two, Joe Biden the vice president under former president Barack Obama and the front-runner with 868 delegates to date, and U.S, Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont with 718, a candidate needing at least 1,991 of the total 3,979 pledged delegates to win the nomination.

Ohio aside, Tuesday's primary elections represent 15 percent of the total pledged delegates, 67 in Arizona, 219 in Florida, 155 in Illinois, and 136 pledged delegates available in Ohio.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.