Sanders praises court order to allow 17-year-olds to vote in Ohio

Bernie Sanders’s campaign on Friday applauded an Ohio judge’s decision to allow some 17-year-olds to vote in the state’s primary elections.

“This is a huge victory for 17-year-olds across Ohio,” campaign lawyer Brad Deutsch said in a statement. “Their votes for presidential nominees will now count when they vote on either Tuesday or over the weekend in early voting.”

A ruling came down on Friday that teenagers who will be turning 18 before Election Day will be allowed to participate in the primary. The Sanders campaign had sued to change the law before it was overturned in another state-level case.

“The judge further admonished the Secretary of State for abusing his discretion by prohibiting 17-year olds from voting for presidential candidates and not only directed the Secretary to instruct poll workers to allow 17-year olds to vote but also instructed them to make a reasonable effort to attempt to determine and record choices that have already been made by any 17-year old who already voted in early voting,” Deutsch said.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted blasted the decision in a statement shortly after the ruling came down, vowing to file an appeal.

“This last minute legislating from the bench on election law has to stop. Our system cannot give one county court the power to change 30 years of election law for the entire state of Ohio, 23 days into early voting and only four days before an election,” he said.  

The ruling could prove to be a major victory for the Vermont senator who has been outperforming his rival Hillary Clinton among young voters, though he still trails her by 20 points in a Real Clear Politics average of the Ohio polls.