Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders celebrates as an Ohio county judged ruled that 17-year-olds are allowed to vote in Tuesday's primaries.
Franklin County Judge Richard Frye adjudged that Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted was amiss in declaring that 17-year-old voters who will be turning 18 on election day are not allowed to vote in next week's presidential primaries.
According to CNN, Husted stirred the controversy in December when he issued an election manual barring 17-year-olds from voting in the presidential primaries despite the fact that they will be legally qualified to vote by the time election day rolls in on November.
Bernie Sanders' campaign filed the lawsuit against Husted, a known Republican, earlier this week alleging he is depriving 17-year-olds of their right to vote.
"The secretary of state has decided to disenfranchise people who are 17 but will be 18 by the day of the general election," Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver said "Those people have been allowed to vote under the law of Ohio, but the secretary of state of the state of Ohio has decided to disenfranchise those people to forbid them from voting in the primary that is coming up on March 15."
Although Judge Frye's decision answers a similar lawsuit but separate from that of Sanders, it is still tantamount to a victory for the presidential hopeful, who has generated massive support from younger voters.
Jon Husted initially planned to appeal the ruling, but cancelled since the timing of the decision would leave his office no time to make the necessary changes to execute an orderly primary election.
USA Today reported that Husted nevertheless criticized the court's last minute ruling, saying the 30-year-old Ohio election law should not be undermined by the decision of one county court. He contended that 17-year-olds who turn 18 on election day are allowed to vote, but not during presidential primaries.
Of the 7.6 million voters in Ohio, 16,000 of them are 17-year-olds. Nine 17-year-old teens sued Husted in court for his restrictive interpretation of Ohio's election law.
17-year-olds are allowed to vote in presidential primaries in at least 20 other states, although the rules vary per political party.
