Arizona, Illinois and Florida primaries move forward despite COVID-19 fears
Reaction from Arizona GOP chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward.
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that has caused many states to declare an emergency public shutdown, states like Arizona are going forward with the primary elections.
“Democracy must go on,” the state's Republican Party chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward told “Fox & Friends First.”
Ward went on to say, “As the chairwoman of the Republican Party of Arizona, I also take the right to vote very seriously and every citizen in the United States should be able to vote and have it counted.”
SANDERS HINTS TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES SHOULD BE POSTPONED OVER CORONAVIRUS
Ward, a physician, said that she takes the outbreak very seriously. Ward said that the poll facilities are stocked with disinfectant products and voting booths are separated further from each other than usual.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders seemed to suggest Sunday that this week’s Democratic presidential primaries should be postponed for safety reasons amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.
In a post-debate interview on CNN, Sanders, I-Vt., pointed to new guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention limiting gatherings to no more than 50 people over the next eight weeks as the country grapples with the highly contagious COVID-19.
“I would hope that governors listen to the public health experts and what they are saying is … we don’t want gatherings of more than 50 people,” Sanders said late Sunday when asked about Tuesday's contests. “I’m thinking about some of the elderly people sitting behind the desks, registering people and doing all that stuff. Does that make sense? I’m not sure it does.”
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Ward also said that the poll facilities are conducive to the “social distancing” encouraged by public officials.
“Of course, don’t greet each other as much as you might want to -- give somebody a hug, or give them a handshake, give them a wave or blow them a kiss instead and that’s how we’re going to protect people, but still enable them to exercise their very important right to vote.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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