States postpone US primaries
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential primaries in four states are set for Tuesday despite growing worries about the coronavirus outbreak, which has prompted other states to postpone or consider delaying future voting and forced candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders off the campaign trail.
State officials have said the primaries in Ohio, Illinois, Florida and Arizona would be held as planned, and Ohio’s top election official reconfirmed that plan on Sunday night. But new doubts surfaced after the US Centres for
Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday recommended cancellation of gatherings of 50 or more over the next eight weeks.
The rapidly spreading virus has shut down schools, restaurants and sporting and cultural events. Georgia and Louisiana have already postponed primaries that had been set for March 24 and April 4, respectively.
Alabama’s top election official on Sunday said he had asked the state attorney-general whether the state government has the legal authority to postpone its March 31 runoff primary election between Republican US Senate candidates Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville.
“The March 31 Runoff Election must be postponed,” the office of Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said in a statement. But Ohio’s top election official, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, said his state was ready for Tuesday’s election.
“We will run a safe, fair election on Tuesday,” he wrote in a Twitter post late on Sunday. LaRose is expected to brief reporters about election preparations and public safety at a news conference with
Governor Mike DeWine later on Monday.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs wrote on Twitter on Monday that the state government was working to keep election day “safe and accessible”.In a joint statement on Friday, the chief elections officials of Ohio, Illinois, Florida and Arizona said the primaries would go on and that there was no elevated danger in voting. Safety guidance from voting machine makers and health officials had been provided to polling locations, they added.