Louisiana Postpones Presidential Primary Over Coronavirus fears

Louisiana has postponed a scheduled presidential primary election on Friday because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak making them the first state in the US

Voters in Louisiana were due to vote on April 4 in both Democratic and Republican primaries to select candidates for the November general election. Secretary of State of Lousiana Kyle Ardoin said the vote will now take place on June 20.

A spokeswoman for the Democratic governor of the state, John Bel Edwards, said state law allows such measures to be taken in the event of an emergency. She called the move extraordinary, but prudent.

Read Also: Trump Declares State Of Emergency Over Coronavirus

“We’re one of the few states that is supposed to have an election in early April, which we think could potentially be the height of some of this in Louisiana,” spokeswoman Christina Stephens said. “Our poll workers are by large elderly – over the age of 70 – and we think it is unsafe for them to be monitoring the election. We don’t think we would have enough poll workers … and we think we should be discouraging people from congregating in that way.”

As of Friday morning, Louisiana had tested 94 people with 33 “presumptive” positive results for the coronavirus.