Leader Sykes: House Democrats stand ready to clean up this election mess

COLUMBUS—House Democratic Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a statement today about the confusion and spread of misinformation related to the State Health Director ordering the polls to be closed and in-person voting to not take place today:

“Members of the Ohio House Democratic Caucus have for days been calling for the legislature to convene to assist with this crisis. We stand ready to answer that call and come back to work.

We never should have arrived at this point. The Ohio Black Legislative Caucus (OLBC) asked days ago for the governor, Speaker and Senate President to reevaluate our preparedness for this election. They called on the legislature to convene to address these concerns and others. We knew our local boards of elections were concerned. We knew the public was concerned. We knew our poll workers were concerned. But they waited and miscalculated and ordered poll workers to not report to the polls before a judge had even made a decision.

I strongly urge the Speaker and the Senate President to call the legislature back into session immediately. “

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