A few days ago, I posted about what I saw as the possibility of Trump "postponing" the

[Atticus]

election due to the pandemic. Many responded along the lines of "That's silly! He CAN'T do that. He has no authority to do that. It violates the law, etc, etc."

All those comments could be applied to Republican Ohio governor DeWine's desire to postpone today's primary election.

He just did it.

As far as the current GOP is concerned, "We don't need no stinkin' laws" whenever they stand in the way of something they really want to do. In this case, "postponing" the primary to June (when things will likely be worse), encourages the Sanders camp to prolong the primary fight and give Trump an open field for his campaign in the swing states.

Between the Russians, the RW billionaires, the white supremacists and the Bernie Bros, I believe the odds of Trump cancelling, postponing or quarantining the election just increased. We now have a "precedent".

[edhopper]

1. I thought it was farfetched a few days ago

Not so sure now.

[Loki Liesmith]

2. DeWine postponed a primary

They are not constitutionally mandated.

[Phoenix61]

16. +1

[Ohiogal]

30. +100

[Amishman]

3. I'm torn on this. Postponing/cancelling an election is bad but at the same time we need containment

There should be immediate contingency plans put in place by all states for voting entirely by mail.

A slight delay in a crisis like this is tolerable as long as we are moving as quickly as possible towards the alternative method of voting.

[Laelth]

4. A governor DEFINITELY CAN postpone an election.

The president CAN NOT. The reason is that elections are controlled by the states.

-Laelth

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Maybe Trump can't postpone the general election, but

(republican) governors may be able to get away with that.

[Laelth]

6. I agree. They could, in their states, but why?

If their states don’t hold elections, then the states that do hold elections will select a new president without their input.

-Laelth

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Not convinced that less than 50 states voting in a general election will be

regarded as valid. MAGAts will insist that it was a democratic coupe.

[Laelth]

12. They can and probably will say that.

It’s a recipe for civil discontent, to be sure.

-Laelth

[illegal smile]

7. Please don't spread misinformation

States have constitutions too, and DeWine violated ours, was overruled by a judge, and violated it again. I don't question his intentions but the precedent is in fact very bad.

[Laelth]

10. Governors can and do violate laws and constitutions.

Who’s going to stop them? Their actions may be illegal or unconstitutional, sure, but that doesn’t mean that the Governor CAN’T do it.

-Laelth

[Atticus]

8. An Ohio judge yesterday disagreed with you and ruled that DeWine could NOT postpone

the election. So he evaded that order by "quarantining" all polling places.

Believe me, I wish I could agree with you. I just don't believe that Trump et al will "fight fair". We can't afford to "bring a casserole" to this gunfight.

[Laelth]

11. Good. Maybe the governor will follow the Judge's order.

Doesn’t mean he will. I certainly hope he does.

-Laelth

[Atticus]

14. He is evading it and has ordered the polling places "quarantined" which effectively stops

people from voting. Rest assured that even IF some method of voting is thrown together (by mail?), the ads, and blog posts dismissing them as "illegitimate" are already written.

[Laelth]

15. As I said. Governors CAN do these kinds of things.

Whether a governor’s actions are legal or constitutional is another question entirely.

-Laelth

[Ms. Toad]

18. The governor cannot -

But the health department has bery broad power to issue orders to protect public health. That is what happened in this case, the order was by Dr. Acton, after the lawsuit (with two elderly voters as plaintiffs) failed.

[Atticus]

19. And, Acton was ordered by DeWine to do that. Bottom line: DeWine evaded court

order and stopped the primary.

[Ms. Toad]

24. No.

Acton is clearly running the show. Go back and watch the press conferences starting last Monday. It is very clear that he is deferring to her medical judgment. Why else do you think a Republican Governor was ordering schools closed when there were very few infections in the state, at a time when Hannity and clan were still claiming it was a big nothing-burger?

I normally can't stand DeWine, but I have been extremely impressed with his response to COVID 19 - primarily since he is doing what virtually all other Republicans have not been doing - listening to the health experts, and leaving politics out of it.

[Atticus]

25. We disagree. nt

[Ms. Toad]

27. Have you actually gone back and watched the press conferences?

You ought to.

With one exception, every democrat I've spoken with in Ohio who has been paying attention to what Dewine has been doing has been very impressed with his handling of COVID 19 (despite disagreeing with pretty much every other decision he has made).

[Maeve]

23. And, for what it's worth, leaders of BOTH parties agreed with it

I can see both sides of this argument--and as a poll worker, I was jerked around as much as most. I went to bed thinking I was getting up to go work and got a text saying I wasn't before I fell asleep. Then I was up four hours later to find out for sure what I was doing today half an hour before I would have been setting things up.
We haven't (as a society) planned for crisis properly--now is the time to think ahead.

[Ms. Toad]

33. Things were happening pretty fast.

The order to close restaurants and bars was a Saturday or Sunday decision (I've lost track). In terms of contacts, voting is equivalent to those. The CDC guidance on elderly people kept changing.

I think it was the right thing to do - but it has been the most chaotic response (in Ohio) to the COVID 19 matter.

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. It's been postponed in Georgia, too. From 3/24 to 5/19.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/14/georgia-delays-primary-election-129595

Postponed. Not canceled.

[Ms. Toad]

17. DeWine didn't -

Amy Acton, head of the Ohio Department of Public Health issued the order.

Public health departments have broad powers in a state emergency to take steps to protect the public health - so, there are stinking laws, and the directive was issued pursuant to those laws. There are still questions as to how this will play out, since the initial attempt was not an order to postpone the elections (a suit was filed by two elderly plaintiffs who did not want to choose between voting and (for them) exposure to life-threatening illness.

Dr. Acton has issued numerous orders within the past few days (closing restaurants & bars, banning large groups, etc). This order is consistent with her prior orders. The process was clunky, but her actions (in the early days) have been against the Republican mantra, so I am confident this was driven by health concerns, not politics.

https://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_boe/en-US/2020/Directive2020_06.pdf

[Atticus]

20. See #19 above. NT

[dware]

21. The Ohio SC did order the primary to be postponed,

and the suit against postponement was brought by, a repub. How's that for irony.

[Ms. Toad]

26. DeWine has not been acting like a Republican in this crisis

He has been acting like someone concerned about the health of all of his constituents.

Sometimes a crisis brings out the best in people. Sometimes not (Trump).

[dware]

41. I agree,

he's not concerned with the R party, he's scared for his citizens and I give him all the credit that is due.

[Vinnie From Indy]

22. Even if the election is postponed....

Trump and Pence would cease being president and vice president on 1/20/2021.

The Speaker of the House would become president.

[getagrip_already]

31. unless the house votes in a new president first.....

Each state would send one rep only. The gop controls a majority of state legislatures, so could pick the next pres.

Of course, pelosi will likely still control the house, so she could postpone the vote... unless election fuckery somehow tips control of the house.

[lark]

28. I said the same thing as you and caught the same vitriol.

"They" said drumpf would not declare a National Emergency - but he did so he has the power to do this now. Besides SCOTUS is the only thing that could stop him, only 5 of them are all in on destroying the country for the benefit of the oligarchs and will do nothing to thwart his actions. If things get worse and people get really pissed at him, the election will not happen and we will be in a whole new world.

[JCMach1]

29. No they will let it go forward with no special measures

Like vote by mail...

=Voter suppression, low turnout

[ebbie15644]

32. President can't but you are

right about governors. I could see a bunch of republican governors cancelling thus preventing a democratic Senate

[Ms. Toad]

34. Governors cannot (generally)

This was a decision by the health department - health departments do have broad powers in public health emergencies.

[TwilightZone]

35. Difference between state and federal.

It's not complicated. The Executive Branch of the Federal government simply does not have the authority. It's been well-established that only Congress can change the date and states control the election process and are given wide latitude.

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32471.pdf

As for DeWine, this was a decision ultimately made by the state health department. His initial cancellation was nullified by a court, the health department stepped in, and the Ohio SC allowed the cancellation on those grounds.

It's also a primary, not a general election.

[Whiskeytide]

36. People are conflating the idea of whether ...

... he can legally do it with the potential that he will try to do it. He can’t legally do it. But if anyone thinks for a minute that he - and his “people” - are not looking at it, then they haven’t been paying attention the last three years.

Even attempting to do it would cause chaos, and he rules by chaos. And I understand that his term expires in January. Ok. Could he issue some sort of emergency proclamation to extend his term? Not legally. But he could try.

People KEEP underestimating his craven, narcissistic, “I don’t give a shit what the law says” approach to his very existence.

A year ago, I would have said that the republicans in Congress, the DOJ, and SCOTUS would never stand for such a thing. But we have seen that there is not really anything they won’t excuse.

Atticus, I fear that this could be one of those times where it will suck for all of us when you post a well deserved “I told you so” this Fall.

[TwilightZone]

38. Bush "looked into it" in 2004.

And it was determined that he didn't have the authority. Same applies to Trump.

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32471.pdf

[Whiskeytide]

40. Again, I'm not saying he can successfully do it. I'm saying ...

... he may try.

He also can’t condition congressionally authorized foreign aid to an ally on receiving a personal favor from that government. It’s not legal, right? Congress would not permit that. The DOJ would step in. The Courts would stop it.

[TwilightZone]

42. Who cares if he tries?

It's a waste of time and effort worrying about something that has no chance of success.

[Whiskeytide]

43. The goal might not be ...

... to actually cancel the election. Just disrupt it. What if he issues a statement on Nov 2 cancelling the election because the infection risk is too great? What happens? How many people don’t vote because of that? Crowded, long wait line precincts are usually democratic leaning, right? How many precincts in how many states close because the president said so? Do any states cancel? Let’s say a few do. Are the results of 46 states on Nov 3 valid? How do you add up electoral college votes? Is there a federally mandated election the following week in those 4 other states? Who enforces that? Or do we have to do a complete “do over”? Wouldn’t the “loser” have arguments that the vote is incomplete? Who answers these questions, and how fast can they be answered?

And how much easier would it be to stuff ballot boxes or hack machines undetected in the midst of all this chaos?

The chaos is the point. Tie it up in the courts and overwhelm the media and make it a shitshow.

I’m just saying that to simply pronounce that this orange asshole can’t do something because it’s unconstitutional or not allowed, or because it’s never been done before ... ignores what he - and his cronies - have been doing for 3 years.

[radius777]

44. +1. People still don't get it. Trump will do whatever he wants

as long as he thinks it can work and he can get away with.

By now, one would think there'd be mass uprisings in the street, and that Trump should've been impeached/removed for numerous violations, yet he remains.

Now he has this pandemic to 'work with'. Fascists thrive on emergencies and a breakdown in what is normal only to replace it with their own 'normal'... and offer themselves as the 'only one you can trust'.

Biden, who has the gravitas as VP and alot of moxy himself - can win - but he/we need to be aware that Trump will use fear, manipulation etc - anything to keep himself and his corrupt grifing family in office.

[Ms. Toad]

37. FYI -

The Supreme Court agreed with the postponement, in a decision issued overnight.

Four justices issued the unanimous decision(two democrats, two republicans). The remaining did not participate (one, because he is DeWine's son. No word on why the other two republicans did not participate).

[bluedigger]

39. The election will be held.

Conventions are another matter. Nothing in the Constitution about those, and the GOP clearly doesn't need one.