Virus scrambles Democratic contest as 3 states vote, Ohio delays

WASHINGTON — The new coronavirus hampered efforts by voters to get to the polls in some states on Tuesday as the global pandemic scrambled the Democratic presidential contest.

Problems popped up across Florida, which has the most delegates up for grabs among the states voting on Tuesday. In Okaloosa County on the Panhandle, two dozen poll workers dropped out, leaving Elections Supervisor Paul Lux’s staff scrambling to train replacements.

Polling sites, Lux said, opened with a “skeleton crew.”

“We are at the honest end of the rope,” Lux said.

800 poll workers back out

At the other end of the state, the elections department in Palm Beach County said 800 volunteer poll workers backed out on Monday and just 100 new volunteers offered to take their place.

A federal judge rejected a request from voting-rights advocacy groups which sought a 10-day extension for mail voting, citing the the movement of 112 polling places in 22 counties.

Meanwhile, leaders in Ohio called off their primary just hours before polls were set to open, citing the need to combat the coronavirus. The state’s Democratic Party said it was weighing options for challenging that move, which was pushed by the Republican governor.

And in Illinois, there was a push to relocate about 50 Chicago-area polling places after locations canceled at the last minute and said they would not be available for use on Tuesday. Timna Axel, director of communications for the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, said voters have been calling the group’s hotline all morning to get help finding their polling places.

The steady flow of calls — including from some polling place workers — is “unusual for a primary,” Axel said.

The developments were a reminder of how the most elemental act of American democracy — voting — was being severely tested as Arizona, Florida and Illinois moved forward with primaries while also confronting the impact of a global pandemic. The contests are playing out as the virus’ impact is becoming more tangible with schools closing across the country, workers staying home and restaurants and bars shuttering.

The big question Tuesday was whether the coronavirus would impact turnout at the polls. Former Vice President Joe Biden is moving closer to securing the Democratic presidential nomination but could face a setback if the older voters who tend to support him don’t show up. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, can’t afford to lose support from young voters who have been his most loyal supporters.

Millions of voters have already participated in some form of early voting. But there were some signs on Tuesday that voters who might have showed up in person were staying back.

Illinois turnout low at 1 poll

In Burbank, a small community southwest of Chicago, most of the voting stations stood empty at 8 a.m. Only 17 people had voted, a pace that officials said was unusually slow.

The tumult surrounding the virus has left the campaign in a state of suspended animation. In-person rallies have been replaced with sometimes-awkward virtual events.

Sanders, the last Democrat standing between Biden and the nomination, isn’t planning to drop out. His campaign looked to have nowhere to go after a big loss last week in Michigan, and another blow landed Monday night when Biden was declared the winner of the primary in Washington state, giving him victories in five out of six states that voted March 10. Yet Sanders’ top advisers see no downside to staying in the race as they assess how the coming days and weeks unfold.

“I don’t have to tell anybody that we are living in a very unprecedented and strange moment in the history of our country,” Sanders said during a virtual rally on Monday, urging supporters that it may be time to “rethink our value system, rethink many of the systems we operate under.”

Still, Sanders faces an increasingly tough path to the nomination. About half of the delegates in the Democratic primary have already been awarded and, if Biden has another big night Tuesday, he will pad an already large and perhaps insurmountable lead. Sanders trails Biden by more than 150 delegates nationally, meaning he’d need to win more than 57% of those yet to be allocated to clinch the Democratic nomination.

Biden trying to keep focus

Biden’s campaign is trying not to look presumptuous about its prospects at this sensitive moment. Still, the former vice president is making moves to rally more voters to his campaign, including his announcement during the debate that he would choose a woman as a running mate.

Biden appeared to keep his focus Monday on winning the nomination, as he encouraged voters in a telephone town hall to participate in Tuesday primaries but to do so safely.

Joining him was former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who served during President Barack Obama’s second term. Murthy encouraged voters at high risk of contracting coronavirus to vote by mail or use curbside voting, if available, but he also explained precautions elections officials are planning in the Tuesday primary states.

The coming weeks will present additional uncertainties. After Tuesday, the campaign had been set to shift to Georgia next week, but officials there have already postponed their Democratic primary until May 19. That means voting isn’t scheduled again anywhere until March 29 in Puerto Rico — and island officials are also seeking a delay.

The first week in April, meanwhile, would have featured Louisiana, but its decision to delay the primary until June 20 leaves only primaries in far-flung Alaska and Hawaii and caucuses in Wyoming through April 4.