By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON Associated Press/Report for America, and staff
COLUMBUS – Early in-person voting for Ohio’s Aug. 2 special primary is underway.
Voting began at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday in each of the state’s 88 county board of elections voting locations, according to the office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank La Rose.
Over the course of the 21 days in the early voting calendar, LaRose says Ohioans will be able to take advantage of 200 hours of early voting opportunities.
Voters may also choose to vote in-person on election day or by mail.
The races on their August 2 primary ballot include nominees for seats in the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate who will compete in the November general election, as well as local issues.
Ohioans cast votes in a statewide primary in May but the ballots were missing key state legislative races due to ongoing court battles over the state’s redistricting process. Because of the delays, there were no official maps or legislative districts instituted in time for the first primary date.
Proposed Ohio amendment would limit vaccine mandates
A proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would limit vaccine mandates by businesses, health care providers and governments is a step closer to the statewide ballot.
The proposal would prohibit those entities from discriminating against people based on vaccination status or mandating any vaccine, medical procedure, treatment or medical device.
The Ohio Ballot Board approved the language Tuesday.
Supporters next will have to gather thousands of valid signatures from registered voters to keep the proposal moving forward. It wouldn’t appear on a statewide ballot until 2023.
Diana Smith, a certified medical assistant from Bradford, said she helped initiate the petition not out of opposition to vaccinations, but to ensure Ohioans are “free to do their own research and do what they want with their bodies without fear of losing their livelihood.”
“This isn’t just about COVID-19,” Smith added. “I’m not an anti-vaxxer, I’m anti-mandate, I’m anti-discrimination.”
Two other initiators are affiliated with the nonprofit, nonpartisan group Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, which lobbies for Ohioans to be able to refuse any medical procedure or treatment.
When a proposal about prohibiting mandatory vaccinations was introduced by Republicans in the Ohio Legislature last year, opponents including physicians, children’s hospitals and other medical groups argued heavily against it.
Vaccine mandates, they said, are not discriminatory but necessary to preserving freedoms by protecting communities against fatal diseases, and that these rapidly spreading diseases affect every part of daily life worldwide.
That bill didn’t advance out of a House committee.