Biden-sanders vote proceeds in 3 states despite virus fears
MIAMI: Polls opened in two of the three US states — Florida, Illinois and Arizona — holding Democratic primaries on Tuesday in the face of a rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic that has cast a pall over the presidential nomination race between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
A fourth primary state, Ohio, postponed its elections until June on orders of Republican Governor Mike Dewine despite a judge’s ruling to the contrary, keeping voters at home amid the escalating public health emergency.
At a time when the government of President Donald Trump is urging people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, election authorities braced for disruptions in the process.
In Florida, the largest and most populous state voting on Tuesday, some two million people had already voted early or by mail, and turnout was expected to be extraordinarily low.
Adding to the obstacles, state authorities had to move dozens of precincts from senior centers to protect against the virus.
In Illinois, Chicago election commissioners were scrambling to find election judges after about 850 informed the county clerk’s office they wouldn’t show up, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Arizona polls opened a few hours after those in Florida and Illinois.
Democrats are in the midst of choosing a nominee who will challenge the Republican incumbent in November’s election, but doubts and concerns have undercut the process.
Despite Dewine’s move to shutter polling stations in Ohio, he appeared to be a lone official voice calling for delay, and failed to win support from Trump, who said it was “up to the states” to make the call.
Ultimately, the president said, “I think postponing is unnecessary’’.
But the vote could be undermined in part by a potential scare factor for the elderly, who are at highest risk of contracting COVID-19.
So far, the epidemic has claimed the lives of 85 people in the United States and infected 4,661, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Officials in Florida, with the most delegates in play on Tuesday, said the state is pulling out all the stops to keep the process safe.
In Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey said state and Democratic Party officials agreed that the primary should go on.
“We have no guarantee that there will be a time in the future when it will be safer than tomorrow,” Ducey said Monday. “Democracy must go on’’.
Biden, 77, tops polling by significant margins in Arizona, Illinois and especially Florida, where the former vice president could strike a hammer blow against his rival by building an insurmountable lead in the delegate count. Tuesday may be a make-orbreak moment for the leftist Sanders, who will face mounting pressure to quit if he does not score a major upset.
Meanwhile, Americans are staying home from work or school by the millions as the country implements emergency measures against a worsening crisis.
Kentucky on Monday announced a delay in its primary from May until June, while Georgia, which was next in line to vote on March 24, is delaying until May.
Louisiana had earlier postponed its April election to June 20.
ONLINE CAMPAIGNS Biden and Sanders say they will campaign exclusively online for now — a scenario unheard of at the height of a US presidential primary battle.
Both are taking precautions during the outbreak: They are washing hands frequently, staff is working from home, and live campaign events have been scrapped.
Sanders hosted a “digital rally” on Monday night featuring high-profile supporter and veteran rocker Neil Young.