Ohio’s elections chief orders state legislative races pulled from May 3 primary ballots

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has directed county boards of elections to remove candidates for the Ohio General Assembly and state central committees from their May 3 primary ballots.

The action was “due to the failure of any action by a federal court to authorize the use of a district map previously approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission,” reads a Wednesday evening news release.

Voters will still be able to decide on candidates for statewide, congressional or local offices as well as local issues like levies. But the timing of legislative races is up to state lawmakers, LaRose’s office stated.

State lawmakers can still choose to reschedule the May 3 primary for a later date or reschedule just the state legislative races — possibly during August’s special election season, according to LaRose’s office.

If the Ohio Supreme Court, which has been mulling the redistricting commission’s second attempt at an Ohio congressional district map, invalidates that map — as it did the first — then congressional elections would also have to be pushed back, according to the office.

“While it might be too late for boards of elections to remove those contests from the May 3 ballot, votes would not be counted if the districts are invalidated, barring any intervention by a federal court,” a spokesperson said in an email.

You can read LaRose’s full directive below:

This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 10:40 PM.