COLUMBUS – Governor Mike DeWine did not say whether he would veto a bill passed by the Ohio Senate Thursday limiting his ability to change election dates and close churches, another attempt by the Republican-dominated General Assembly to curb the administration’s powers, which lawmakers think have been abused during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) signed the measure Thursday, which he says protects in-person voting by preventing any public official from canceling or postponing an election and also prohibits any state official from issuing any orders closing places of worship. Both provisions were added by the Senate during its consideration of the bill and were agreed to by the House, so the bill now heads to the governor’s desk.
“This bill preserves our most fundamental rights: the freedom of religion and the ability to vote…This bill reaffirms that the time, place and manner of holding an election are set by the legislature in the Ohio Revised Code, and that only the legislature can change an election date,” Obhof said
DeWine and then-state health director Dr. Amy Acton caused the state’s March 17 primary to be delayed in the early days of the pandemic but DeWine did not say he would veto the bill, nor does he expect the Nov. 3 presidential election to be postponed.
“This is a federal election. I don’t have the authority to interfere with it, we’re not going to interfere with it. There will be an election on Election Day,” he told reporters Thursday.
Although DeWine never ordered churches to be closed and repeatedly said he would not, senators added the provision concerning places of worship was added to the bill protecting the freedom to worship was a reaction added in response to closures in other states and would prevent any similar action in Ohio.
DeWine has vetoed other legislation aimed at limiting the power of state officials to issue directives that affect the economy or harm business owners to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The closure of businesses and stay-at-home orders issued in the early days of the pandemic brought the state’s economy to a halt, leaving millions of Ohioans unemployed.