April 09, 2020

26 states, territories plan primary elections amid coronavirus crisis

Nearly half of the United States have still yet to vote in their 2020 presidential primaries -- major electoral events that occur every four years, but the coronavirus emergency has interrupted this year's contests in a way that's never been seen before.

For weeks now, the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign has effectively been pushed off the front pages by the pandemic that's so far killed more than 70,000 people worldwide. Democratic front-runner Joe Biden seized a commanding delegate lead over rival and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders before the health crisis began to seriously impact the United States.

After Wisconsin voted on Tuesday, 22 states still have unfulfilled primaries -- Alaska, Wyoming, Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska, Georgia, Oregon, Hawaii, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana, Kentucky and New York. Four territories have also yet to vote -- Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A number of the remaining states have postponed their contests, and several have taken measures to nix in-person voting and extend absentee ballot deadlines, efforts to comply with federal restrictions related to the outbreak that will last through at least April 30.

As a result of the health crisis, no primaries have been held anywhere in the United States since March 17. The next major date on the primary calendar is June 2, when 10 states -- including delegate-heavy Pennsylvania and New Jersey -- and Washington, D.C., will all vote.

Daniel Birdsong, a political science lecturer at Dayton University, said that long intermission could end up favoring Biden because Sanders hasn't been able to do anything in the interim to close the gap.

"One big day focuses attention on overall results and those that are doing well or doing better than expected," he said. "Everything seems to be not necessarily frozen but moving much slower than it initially was, and it's probably going to be more of the same unless there's some tremendous hiccup for the Biden campaign."

Wisconsin staged its primary this week, but only after it was ordered to by the state Supreme Court. Gov. Tony Evers tried to push the contest to June due due to the health crisis, but the Wisconsin high court rejected that move. The U.S. Supreme Court also blocked an attempt to push back the state's deadline to return absentee ballots.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who favored extending the deadline, unsuccessfully argued that thousands of Wisconsin voters would be left "quite literally without a vote" because many absentee ballots wouldn't arrive before Tuesday's deadline.

Ohio faced a similar situation three weeks ago, but was partly successful in postponing its March primary. Lawmakers ultimately extended mail voting through April 28 after the state legislature blocked an attempt to stage the contest on in June. Other contests in Florida, Illinois and Arizona that were scheduled for the same day went ahead, but saw significant declines in voter turnout.

In efforts to minimize the impact of the coronavirus on the remaining elections, some states, like Georgia, have moved to expand or postpone deadlines for mail-in ballots. Some experts say it's a sound strategy as long as the states have the infrastructure like personnel and equipment to handle the difference.

"If you do have a higher volume ... or there's more than what you can handle manually, it may make sense to engage with a vendor to facilitate the mailing of those ballots," Amber McReynolds, CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, said. "It's more efficient and they have equipment that can do it, so it isn't a manual process."

McReynolds urges voters to send in their ballot applications as soon as possible, and follow up, to ensure their votes are counted.

It remains uncertain precisely how long coronavirus related restrictions in the United States will last, but it's possible they could also ultimately impact the general election on Nov. 3. If so, experts like Birdsong say Trump and the Democratic nominee will probably have to campaign with digital events instead of traditional rallies. They will also likely have to find ways to urge voters to shift to voting by mail -- because the outcome of the presidential election may depend on it.

"The overarching goal is to mobilize, but the structure that they have to wage that mobilization in is different," Birdsong said. "How well they've been connecting people virtually and if they can essentially send people information about [mail] voting to make it easier.

"Then, it increases the chance [voters will] turn out."

Remaining state primaries: (as of April 8; dates, methods subject to change)

April 10: Alaska (mail only)

April 17: Wyoming (mail only)

April 26: Puerto Rico (mail and in-person voting)

April 28: Ohio (mail only)

May 2: Kansas, Guam (both mail only)

May 12: Nebraska (mail and in-person)

May 19: Georgia (mail and in-person), Oregon (mail only)

May 22: Hawaii (mail only)

June 2: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and South Dakota are all planning both mail and in-person voting. Rhode Island will be mail only.

June 6: U.S. Virgin Islands

June 9: West Virginia (mail and in-person)

June 20: Louisiana (mail and in-person)

June 23: New York, Kentucky (both mail and in-person)

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