Georgia 2nd state to postpone pres. primaries over virus
The action followed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature of an emergency declaration that unlocked sweeping powers to fight COVID-19. In a speech Saturday, the governor renewed a call for places of worship, schools and others to consider canceling large gatherings as cases in the state rise.
On Friday, Louisiana became the first state to postpone its presidential primaries due to the virus.
As of Saturday, the virus had infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,800. The death toll in the U.S. rose to 51 and infections totaled more than 2,100, as President Donald Trump expanded a ban on travel from Europe by adding Britain and Ireland to the list.
Georgia is reporting 66 confirmed cases, with most concentrated around metro Atlanta. One death in the state has been attributed to the virus.
Cobb County Elections Director Janine Eveler
In this Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, file photo, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during the Martin Luther King, Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Georgia’s elections board on Wednesday, approved a set of rule changes to govern the use of new voting machines that are being rushed to counties statewide for the state’s fastapproaching presidential primaries in March. said in an interview Saturday evening that her heavily populated metro Atlanta county had seen “a little over 100” poll workers quit in recent days because of fears over the virus. “Each day we had more and more poll workers wanting to bow out due to concern over their health,” Eveler said, adding that she believed the decision to postpone the election was the right one.
Only one candidate is on the Republican ballot in Georgia for the presidential primary: President Donald Trump.
The Democratic race has been narrowed to a twoman matchup between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Biden has been beating Sanders among key demographics at play in Georgia Democratic politics like African Americans
and suburban voters and has been endorsed by a slew of state and local officials.
Raffensperger’s office said that the decision to postpone the election was made in consultation with the state Democratic and Republican Parties.
“Our priority is to protect the health and safety of all Georgians and to ensure that as many people as possible have an opportunity to vote,” state Sen. Nikema Williams, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia said, according to the statement. “Continued in-person voting could compromise both goals.”
All votes already cast, including in-person and absentee ballots, will be counted, the statement says. As of Thursday, 224,000 voters had already cast ballots in the primary, according to Associated Press Elections Research.
The delayed election is the latest in a long list of disruptions to ordinary life the virus has caused.
School districts covering the majority of Georgia’s 1.8 million public school students have announced closures. Among many events postponed or canceled are the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in Atlanta, Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and the Masters golf tournament in Augusta.
The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/ UnderstandingtheOutbreak.