MANSFIELD — There will be a primary election in Ohio on May 3 — it just will not include state legislative districts.
And the “split primary” date for those races is still anybody’s guess as the post-2020 U.S. Census redistricting conundrum between Republicans and Democrats continues unabated.
On Thursday, for the fourth time, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected state House and Senate maps drawn by Republicans, tossing the state’s primary into chaos and perhaps setting the stage for federal judicial intervention.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s elections chief, said legislative maps must be done by Wednesday, April 20, to conduct a primary by Aug. 2. He said the primary must be done by then in order to meet state law.
But in its 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court disagreed and said the primary could be held after Aug. 2. The judges set a new maps deadline of May 6 at 9 a.m.
“The so-called April 20 ‘deadline’ for implementing a General Assembly-district plan appears to be an artificial deadline that is based on a speculative, potential primary-election date for state legislative races,” according to the majority’s opinion, which did not list an author.
“It is unclear as to why Aug. 2, 2022, is the last available date for a primary election in Ohio. We note that several states will have primary elections on Aug. 16, 2022, or later, including four states that will have their primary elections in September,” the state’s high court ruled.
In his written response, LaRose seemed dumbfounded by the decision and accused the Supreme Court of “flagrant disregard for the critical timing and deadlines of Ohio’s elections process.”
“The court’s majority ignores and, in fact, attempts to rewrite the key requirements of election administration literally spelled out in the law. We will reinforce those statutory timelines to the federal court and hope that constitutional convictions prevail,” he said.
“This statement by the Democratic members of the court and the (Republican) Chief Justice indicates a shocking and clear ignorance of Ohio law.
“Despite having a former Secretary of State on their panel, the majority did not consider the fact that each state’s election system is unique, or that Ohio’s elections have their own statutory requirements, and because of these requirements it would require a violation of Ohio law for any primary to be held after Aug. 2,” LaRose said.
He said the filing deadline for nominating petitions for nonpartisan races in the General Election, as set in Ohio law, is Aug. 8.
“To be clear, any primary held after Aug. 2 would directly conflict with the statutorily required deadlines of the General Election,” LaRose said.
He said the Supreme Court “fails to contemplate” that Ohio law also allows for special elections to take place on Aug. 2, and several counties are expected to conduct a special election to consider local issues.
“These elections include their own statutorily required deadlines, from early voting periods beginning four weeks before election day to the completion of the official canvass 21 days after Election Day.
“Requiring a different primary election to take place on a date within the Aug. 2 election window would not only cause significant voter confusion, but it also wouldn’t be physically possible without each impacted county board of elections doubling their staff and each piece of election infrastructure,” LaRose said.
Regardless, the May 3 primary for statewide, congressional, and local offices and issues will proceed as scheduled.
The court’s ruling only impacts state legislative and political party central committee contests, which are based on legislative districts.
