Currents News Staff
Despite the coronavirus, voters still turned out on election day in three states to deliver wins to Joe Biden.
The former vice president swept the March 17 primaries, and is now projected to take Florida, Arizona, and Illinois.
The wins give Biden a considerable boost in the delegate count as he battles Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination.
“We’ve moved closer to securing the Democratic party’s nomination for president,” said Biden.
But the elections in Florida, Illinois and Arizona all happened amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is Clorox wipes, latex gloves and a mask,” said Carlos Puello, one Florida voter.
“I’m in that target category for the virus, so i was worried about looking crazy but then I thought ‘who cares? This is more important,” said one voter in Illinois.
In a stunning turn of events late Monday, just hours before polls were set to open, the state of Ohio announced it was closing all polling sites due to concerns over the coronavirus.
The order came from the state health director, after a court rejected the governor’s plea to move the primary to June.
Now, residents in Ohio will have to wait while state officials attempt to figure out what’s next.
“There was no way that in good conscience we could order an election, and certainly not a legitimate election, given that we were telling a large portion of the Ohio population that they should not come to the polls,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
The drama in Ohio is the latest chapter in a primary race upended since the virus began spreading rapidly in the U.S. and more states have postponed their elections.
The Democratic National Committee wants to shift from in-person voting and transition to other methods, like by voting mail— all to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“Probably next time I will do it mailing or voting to the email. I don’t know. Right now I had to come here and vote,” said Puello.