Seventeen-year-olds who will be 18 by Election Day were allowed to vote for presidential candidates in the Ohio primary two weeks ago because of a lawsuit filed by Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said he’d been following the same rules that his Democratic predecessor used. But that previous Secretary of State says differently.
Democratic former Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner says she was surprised when she saw some of the affidavits showing how boards of elections interpreted Husted’s order that 17 year olds could not vote in the presidential primary. He’d said only people over 18 have the power to elect presidential delegates, which is what Ohio primary voters do. But Brunner says that’s not the order she issued when she was in charge.
“Our directive in 2008 did not say anything along the lines that his did about nominating a presidential candidate is actually electing delegates.”
Brunner wasn’t able to talk about this before now because she was part of a legal proceeding that could have been used if Husted appealed.
