Louisiana Postpones Democratic Primary Again: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Louisiana voters will for now be the last to select their preferences for presidential nominees after Governor John Bel Edwards postponed the primary date to July 11 because of the cornonavirus pandemic.

It’s the second time Edwards has pushed back the election date in response to the spread of the virus. The election was originally scheduled for April 4 and delayed until June 20. Louisiana has been hard-hit by the cornavirus, with 21,518 cases and 1,013 deaths.

Edwards’s proclamation leaves the rules of the new election date unresolved. The Republican-controlled state legislature will have to decide whether to expand early voting hours and mail-in voting, which President Donald Trump opposes.

Neither presidential nomination is competitive. Trump is effectively unopposed for the GOP nomination, and former Vice President Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee after his last remaining rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, endorsed him Monday.

Fifteen other states and Puerto Rico have either delayed primaries or switched to vote-by-mail because of the pandemic.

Coming Up:

Voting in Wyoming’s mail-in caucuses ends on April 17; voting in Ohio mail-in primary ends on April 28.

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