Now is time to consider having all-mail voting

Everyone knows it was not our finest hour. The mass confusion that led up to the lastminute postponement of Ohio’s on-again, off-again primary election Tuesday was an abject lesson in how state government should not operate.

Mixed messages. Miscommunication. Poll workers not knowing whether they had to work. Voters not knowing if they would be able to vote.

But, after all that, the state ensured it would not be our worst hour when Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton ordered polling places closed late Monday night. Make no mistake: If the election had been held Tuesday as scheduled with the COVID-19 pandemic raging, it would have been disastrous for public health.

Certainly, we wish Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had been as proactive as he had been in early March when he closed schools and large public gatherings. In fact, we believe he and Secretary of State Frank LaRose should have moved several days earlier to delay the election.

But we do not question DeWine’s motives. With his calm, steady leadership and rational decisions in the face of an unprecedented public health emergency, the governor has built a reservoir of trust and goodwill from which he can draw, as he did here.

DeWine was caught in a dilemma, trying to ensure our sacred right to vote while at the same time protecting public health. He wisely opted for the latter while preserving the former, and for that we all should be thankful.

But we find the criticism of LaRose far more justified.

It was his office that sent an email to boards of election around the state last Monday night with the news that Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Richard Frye had ruled in favor of stopping the election. But the judge hadn’t. He had denied the order, and there were several hours of confusion before Acton’s order ended the chaos, which most charitably could be attributed to “fog of war.”

LaRose then issued a directive to extend absentee voting and reset the date of Ohio’s inperson voting to June 2, arguably usurping the authority of the legislature to set the date of elections. The Ohio Democratic Party thought so, and filed a lawsuit — since joined by the state’s Libertarian Party — in state court contending he had acted illegally.

A bipartisan group of legislators thought so, too, and as a result the Ohio General Assembly will debate the issue of what to do about the primary election.

They have several options. They could leave LaRose’s plan in place. They could spread out in-person voting over a period of time, ending either June 2 or another day. Of course, the risk of any plan that includes in-person voting is that the pandemic might still be an ongoing problem.

Which is why we think the obvious solution is a vote-bymail system, assuming any logistical issues created by providing and counting the ballots of the state’s more than 6 million registered voters can be overcome in short order.

In any event, starting the process now would ensure we would be prepared for the general election in November.

Four states already have moved to all-mail voting and, with 65% of its 2018 voters casting its ballots that way, California is well on its way to joining them. With Ohio offering absentee ballots to those who request it, we’ve already dipped our toe in the water.

Considering the COVID-19 pandemic likely will affect us for at least another 18 months, it’s time for Ohio to jump in.

Read the Akron Beacon Journal editorial at bit. ly/39cP8q4