Ohio voting machines will be sanitized. Get out and VOTE on Tuesday, March 17, 2020!

UPDATE: According to the Secretary of State's website, primary voting in Ohio has been postponed until June 2 due to a health emergency.

As you know, Governor DeWine has banned mass gatherings in Ohio of 100 or more people to slow the spread of coronavirus.

However, election day voting will NOT be affected by this order. And voting at a location in your local community will NOT significantly increase your chance of getting or spreading the virus.

It it important that we cast our votes for pro-gun and pro-liberty candidates and NOT allow this health scare to affect the outcome of the election.

I want to share some information about steps being taken by the Secretary of State to make polling locations safe. Please read this all the way through.

Early preparation began in February. Secretary LaRose began sharing preparation recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) with county boards of elections weeks ago. With support from the CDC and the Multi-State-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), his office was able to provide the information boards needed to make plans for virus prevention.

Election Day is different from other public events. Unlike large gatherings such as the Arnold Fitness Classic or high attendance conferences, voting on election day takes place in small communities of neighbors who are more likely than not to interact in other ways every day – whether at school, in church, in the grocery store, or elsewhere.

Unlike other large public events or gatherings, election day does not create a situation where bigger crowds from geographically different areas come into one tight space, which could cause greater concerns about virus transmission.

This means voting will NOT significantly increase your chance of getting or spreading the virus.

Some voting locations have been moved for enhanced safety. Most locations will remain the same, but some have been moved, such as those that take place in nursing homes.

We recommend that you double check to make sure you go to the right location on Election Day, Tuesday, March 17. Check your polling location, then check to see if that location has been moved. Please check as close to Election Day as possible because things could change at the last minute.

1. Click here to find your polling location.

2. Click here to see if your polling location has been moved.

Voting machines will be cleaned and sanitized. Secretary LaRose has worked with the private vendors of Ohio’s voting machines to provide the manufacturer guidelines for cleaning voting machines to prevent disease spread. In addition, the CDC and Ohio Department of Health have provided best practices that will promote the health and safety of poll workers.

Also, I just got off the phone with a volunteer from the Franklin County Board of Elections who said poll workers there will wear gloves and repeatedly wipe down voting machines with bleach. In addition, they will modify waiting lines to space people out at safe distances. And hand sanitizer will be available to voters.

It's likely that many or most other polling locations in Ohio will follow similar practices for your safety and peace of mind.

Vote for Pro-Gun candidates! We have graded and endorsed many candidates for this primary election. We have focused mostly on contested elections, where two or more candidates from the same party are running for the same office. Please consider our grades and endorsements when you cast your vote.

Click here to see our grades and endorsements.

Don't forget that Ohio has 4 million gun owners. If we work together, vote together, and stand together, especially at a difficult time like this, we can prevail.

Our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is NOT given to us by the government. It is our natural right. We are born with it. But ... it is always under attack. So we must fight for it every day. And that includes Election Day.

Be safe. Be well. And please VOTE!

Dean Rieck is Executive Director of Buckeye Firearms Association, a former competitive shooter, NRA Patron Member, #1 NRA Recruiter for 2013, business owner and partner with Second Call Defense.