With wins in 7 states, DC, Biden close to nomination

Washington, June 3: Joe Biden is on the cusp of formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination after winning hundreds more delegates in primary contests that tested the nation’s ability to run elections while balancing a pandemic and sweeping social unrest.

Biden could lock down the nomination within the next week as West Virginia and Georgia hold primaries. On Tuesday, voters across America were forced to navigate curfews, health concerns and National Guard troops — waiting in line hours after polls closed in some cases — after election officials dramatically reduced the number of in-person voting sites to minimise the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak. Biden and President Donald Trump easily swept their respective primary contests that ranged from Maryland to Montana and featured the night’s biggest prize: Pennsylvania. The two men are certain to face each other on the presidential ballot in November, yet party rules require them first to accumulate a majority of delegates in the monthslong state-by-state primary season.

Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination in March. Pennsylvania, which offered Tuesday’s largest trove of delegates, also represented a significant test case for

Republicans and Democrats working to strengthen their operations in a premier general election battleground. Voters were forced to brave long lines in “militarised zones” because officials consolidated the vast majority of polling places in Philadelphia to minimise health risks, according to Erin Kramer, executive director of One Pennsylvania.

She noted that some polling places in African American communities are in police stations. “Having to stand in line while police officers are entering and exiting the building on police business is not exactly how people want to spend their Election Day,” Kramer said.