The State of Georgia has joined Louisiana on Saturday by announcing a postponement until May of its primary elections to choose the candidates for the next presidential elections, initially scheduled for March 24, due to the coronavirus. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger explained that early voting, which started on March 2, will be stopped and that the face-to-face vote will be on May 19, coinciding with other state primaries. In turn, the Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, has declared this Saturday a State of Emergency to combat contagion.
A day earlier, last Friday, Louisiana became the first entity in the United States to postpone its primaries due to the coronavirus pandemic. The vote initially scheduled for April 4 will take place on June 20, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said at a press conference. “The law establishes extraordinary measures to face disasters,” he said. “Today I certified that there is a state of emergency.”
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These postponements come when next Tuesday there will be a new round of primary voting in four states also affected by the pandemic: Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. The coronavirus has placed the election campaign in virtual mode in the United States.
Eight months after the presidential elections, and with a intense battle for nomination in the Democratic Party, the coronavirus has altered the very essence of the campaign, ending the phase of shaking hands or holding debates with the public. The pandemic has turned the campaign into something telematic. Aspirants to the White House have decided to suspend the rallies as a precaution, forcing them to carry out a virtual candidacy: acts without an audience broadcast online, volunteers calling potential donors from home and social networks as a spearhead.
The first televised duel that Joe Biden had to face this Sunday with Bernie Sanders in Arizona has been moved to the city of Washington to avoid unnecessary trips. The CNN set where it will be held will not look anything like the one that last June hosted the 20 pre-candidates who were then fighting for the Democratic nomination, who were divided into two successive days of discussions. Sunday’s will be the eleventh Democratic debate in this 2020 election cycle.
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