The Ohio Union will be a polling location for the primary election March 17. Credit: Amal Saeed | Photo Editor
Although Ohio State residence halls are closing for the semester, the Ohio Union will be open Tuesday for the primary election.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced a ban on mass gatherings of 100 or more people in response to the coronavirus outbreak in a press conference Thursday. The ban does not apply to polls, DeWine and Lt. Gov. John Husted said.
Dave Isaacs, university spokesperson, said the Ohio Union will continue to serve as a polling location Tuesday.
“We will be making sure the room is clean and sanitized throughout the day,” Isaacs said.
Ohio State announced that students will be required to move out of university housing for the remainder of the semester in a universitywide email Thursday. If moving back home displaces students from their registered voting districts, early voting will be available at the Franklin County Board of Elections until Monday for those who wish to vote before Tuesday.
“I was proud to cast my vote today at the Greene County Board of Elections. Vote early or request an absentee ballot by noon tomorrow,” Dewine said in a tweet Friday.
Absentee ballots can be requested through Saturday.
There are 2,572 confirmed cases and 51 deaths in the United States, with 26 cases and no deaths in Ohio as of Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University and the Ohio Department of Health.
Claire Teets, a second-year in communication and French, will return to Columbus Tuesday to vote in the primary election. She said she will do whatever possible to vote, but she knows some people might feel anxious about the coronavirus spread.
“I was really concerned about how the current situation with OSU canceling classes would affect people getting out and voting,” Teets said.
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Correction: a previous version of this story misreported the total number of confirmed cases and deaths in the U.S. and in Ohio. The story has been updated to reflect the most recent totals as of March 14 at 4:30 p.m.
