Ohio calls off primary hours before polls open amid coronavirus fears

Ohio health officials ordered the state’s polling stations closed for Tuesday’s Democratic primary, as the governor defied a court ruling and declared a health emergency over coronavirus.

“While the polls will be closed tomorrow, Secretary of State @FrankLaRose will seek a remedy through the courts to extend voting options so that every voter who wants to vote will be granted that opportunity” at a later date, Governor Mike DeWine said late Monday on Twitter.

DeWine said conducting an election -- featuring Democratic presidential nomination frontrunner Joe Biden and rival Bernie Sanders -- under current conditions “would force poll workers and voters to place themselves at an unacceptable health risk of contracting coronavirus.”