Ga. presidential primary delayed to May; advance voting halted

Georgia’s response to the Coronavirus outbreak has prompted a delay in the state’s presidential primary.

Early voting has been underway since March 2 for the March 24 primary, which has now been pushed back to May 19.

That announcement was made Saturday by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (here’s his full statement).

May 19 is the date of Georgia’s general primary, which includes all other federal, state and local candidates.

“Events are moving rapidly and my highest priority is protecting the health of our poll workers, their families, and the community at large,” Raffensperger said. “Given these circumstances, I believe it is necessary and prudent to suspend the voting in the Presidential Preference Primary, and the local elections associated with them, and roll them into the already scheduled May 19 General Primary.”

Raffensperger said early voting would be halted for now.

He said one of the main concerns is conducting elections with a high number of poll workers 70 and older, and who are considered in a high-risk group because of their age.

On Saturday, Louisiana’s presidential primary, scheduled for April 4, was delayed to June 20.

The decision to delay the Georgia presidential primary came hours after Gov. Brian Kemp declared a public health emergency in the state. He also issued an executive order to call up as many as 2,000 Georgia National Guard troops in response to the situation.

Georgia’s positive tests for Coronavirus jumped from 42 on Friday to 66 Saturday; and Cobb’s nearly doubled in that time, from 8 to 15, the highest number of cases for any county in the state.

Cobb also has Georgia’s only Coronavirus-related death, a 67-year-old man who was being treated at WellStar Kennestone Hospital and had other medical issues.

Related stories

• Cobb’s 15 Coronavirus cases leads Ga. as emergency declared
• Judicial emergency in Cobb delays trials by 30 days
• Cobb schools to make food donations to MUST during closures
• East Cobb churches, faith communities alter schedules
• Cobb commissioners to hold special Coronavirus meeting
• Cobb schools closing Monday “until further notice”
• Cobb library events cancelled, including spring book sale
• Georgia’s first Coronavirus death was Kennestone patient
• Ott town halls, Cobb SPLOST open houses cancelled

Early voting in Cobb was to have expanded beyond the Cobb Elections main office in Marietta next week, including polling locations at the East Cobb Government Service Center, the Tim D. Lee Senior Center and Noonday Baptist Church.

Early voting did take place Saturday at the East Cobb Government Service Center, located on Lower Roswell Road.

According to Cobb Elections, 8,223 people have voted in Cobb during the early voting period through Thursday, 6,623 in the Democratic primary, and 1,600 in the Republican primary.

Another 5,461 absentee ballots have been issued, with 2,367 returned. Most of those ballots also have been Democratic.

Incumbent President Donald Trump is the only name on the Georgia GOP ballot, and former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are the only remaining major candidates still vying for the Democratic nomination.

Since winning the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29, Biden has won 14 other state primaries, including North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, and leads Sanders 890-736 in the delegate count.

The Georgia ballot includes several candidates who have suspended their campaigns, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Bloomberg have endorsed Biden.

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