Illinois Primary Happening Today In Spite of Virus

The Illinois presidential primary will continue as scheduled on Tuesday, even amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said, “We’re going to go ahead with it. But we’ve been extra careful at all of our polling places. Everybody is practicing good hygiene. And we’re making sure that it’s safe for people to come and vote. The schools are closed, so many people will be voting in schools. And there won’t be big crowds.”

Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Election officials stress safety and encourage voters to practice social distancing. But they acknowledge that a “tsunami” of calls have been coming from poll workers who are opting not to show up at polling places. In some places, they are asking healthy people to show up and serve as judges.

Arizona and Florida are also scheduled to vote Tuesday. Early voting his been underway for weeks, which may limit the crush at polling places. Some have worried that predominantly elderly poll workers and volunteers would be exposed to the disease amid crowds of voters.

Two other states that were scheduled to vote later have delayed their primaries, citing the virus. Georgia, which was scheduled for March 24, moved its contest to May 19. Louisiana, which was slated to vote April 4, will now cast ballots June 20.