US Voters Participate In The Primary Election Amid The Covid-19 Epidemic And Social Unrest
On June 2, US voters
participated in the primary election in the context of a curfew imposed in many
localities and the complicated Covid-19 epidemic.
Besides the District of
Columbia, nine other states held elections including Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland,
Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Dakota. In
particular, the state of Iowa only held local elections due to the primary
presidential election held there on February 1, opening the year for elections
in the United States.
The election in Washington
was held amid intense tension when Mayor Muriel Bowser had to impose a curfew
order from 7pm on June 2 to 6 in the morning on June 3. Law enforcement
agencies and the National Guard have been prepared to deal with protesters for
the fifth consecutive night outside the White House following the death of
African-American George Floyd.
A large fence was erected
in front of the White House and military vehicles blocked some streets in the
center of the capital. However, polling stations will be open until 8 pm
and voters will not be arrested in the curfew.
The number of direct votes
will be greatly reduced in localities as many voters have been encouraged to
vote by mail to limit their exposure to the Covid-19 epidemic.
However, there is still a
long line of electors outside the polling stations, especially in minority
communities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A number of polling stations in
African American communities are held in police stations. The Philadelphia
government has also decided to postpone the curfew from 18:00 to 20:30 pm to
facilitate voting.
Although former Vice
President Joe Biden's rivals have all given up on the race, he still needs to
collect 89% of the total number of delegates in this election to formally win
the final Democratic nomination.
If that number is not reached, Biden
still has a chance to accomplish his goal in other elections this month.
As many voters have voted
in the mail, along with the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic and social unrest
over the past few days, the vote counting results in this election may be
prolonged.
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