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2020 ELECTION UPDATE
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent
The coronavirus outbreak has essentially frozen the Democratic presidential primary process. Since March 17, when Arizona, Florida and Illinois voted, most other states with primaries scheduled between April and June decided to postpone.
But the race resurrects today, with the scheduled in-person primary in Wisconsin. The Badger State has been under a stay-at-home order since March 25, but a state law set the primary date for today.
Republicans, who control the state legislature, rejected efforts -- including by the Democratic governor -- to change it. The situation has launched a flurry of court cases and rulings, including by the U.S. Supreme Court.
As a hotly divided and swear-word-tweeting Wisconsin heads to the polls we thought it would be a good time to update the state of the 2020 race.
Democratic primary delegates
- Former Vice President Joe Biden has amassed 1,217 delegates.
- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has 914 delegates. To clinch the Democratic nomination, a candidate needs 1,991 delegates.
- Following Biden and Sanders are three former candidates who gained delegates before dropping out of the race: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 81 delegates, Michael Bloomberg with 55 and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg with 26.
- Wisconsin has 84 delegates up for grabs in its primary today.
Conventions
- Democrats have moved their convention back a month, from the week of July 13 to the week of Aug. 17. It will remain in Milwaukee.
- Republicans are scheduled to hold their convention the following week, starting Aug. 24, in Charlotte.
- There are still some questions about whether either convention will follow the usual format. Earlier this week, Biden suggested that the Democratic convention may need to be “virtual.”
National mail-in vote discussion
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told NBC she thinks the country will “probably be moving” toward mail-in voting for the fall. But President Donald Trump responded negatively to the idea on FOX News, accusing Democrats of trying to block Republicans from getting elected.
- Currently, five states conduct elections entirely by mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah.
- Three other states give counties the option of conducting mail-only elections: California, Nebraska and North Dakota.
- At least 13 other states offer limited mail-only voting for smaller local elections and some referenda.
- This means the majority of U.S. states are traditionally conducting elections with in-person polling places, with various options for absentee balloting.
- The CARES Act, which is the coronavirus recovery bill passed by Congress in the past two weeks, includes $400 million to help states retool elections in response to the coronavirus. That can include moving toward a vote-by-mail system.
- Some experts point out there are significant legal questions in ramping up such a system so quickly.
What other countries have done about elections
DISEASE AND DISCRIMINATION
By Matt Loffman, politics producer
Editor’s note: Matt Loffman has been reporting on rising incidents of hate and bigotry toward Asian Americans. Here we have excerpted a few of those stories. To read the full piece, click here.
For Jeni Erbes-Chan, an architect in New York, it was a trip on the subway on March 10, her last day in the office before the citywide stay-at-home order, that shook her.
“A man sort of lurched at me and shouted, ‘You people brought the virus. Go back to China.’ I was a little in shock,” Erbes-Chan said. “I just put my head down and tried not to make any eye contact after that.”
Like so many others, she went about her day and didn’t report the incident to law enforcement.
“You just bury your head and you move forward because no matter how hard you work, how successful you are, what friends you make, you just don’t belong,” she said. “You will always be looked at as foreign.”
Incidents like these have been on the rise in recent weeks, and some have escalated beyond these verbal assaults. A family of three were stabbed outside a store in Midland, Texas, last month. The FBI says the man who was arrested after that incident may face federal hate crime charges. The FBI is also warning local law enforcement around the country of a potential surge in hate crime incidents against Asian Americans because of coronavirus fears, according to an FBI analysis obtained by ABC News.
For Cynthia Choi, the co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, the most upsetting accounts she’s read have targeted health care workers on the front lines battling the coronavirus. In one instance, a doctor on his way to work was told to “go back to f****** China.” In another, a nurse delivering medicine to a sick patient was spit on.
For Manjusha Kulkarni, the executive director of the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council, another organization that created the website, the attacks on children are among the most upsetting. Children are the target of about six percent of all reports, according to the analysis.
One of the worst incidents she recalls hearing about occured in the weeks before schools across the country closed en masse. A 12-year-old was taunted at school by a classmate who yelled at him to “go back to China,” Kukarni recalled. When the student protested, the bully punched him in the head 20 times.
“This is unfortunately part of our new reality, along with tremendous fears of contracting the virus,” Kulkarni said.
FIVE OVERLOOKED POLITICAL STORIES FROM THE PAST WEEK
By Alex D’Elia, @AlexDEliaNews
Politics production assistant
Another thing to fear out there: Coronavirus scammers -- April 5. Fake coronavirus testers set up tents in a Louisville parking lot to scam people into handing over their money, social security numbers, and credit card information. Why it matters: This scam is just one of many looking to capitalize on public panic over the pandemic. -- The New York Times
DNC books $22 million in fall YouTube ads -- April 6. The campaign across 14 battleground states is the largest from any Democratic group so far. Why it matters: The escalating coronavirus pandemic is forcing millions of Americans to stay home, reinforcing the DNC’s desire to reach voters at home, on their devices. -- The Hill
State legislators adjust to lawmaking in the time of coronavirus -- April 4. State legislatures are holding special sessions spread out across basketball arenas and voting remotely. Why it matters: States across the country are adjusting their ways of governing to abide by social distancing guidelines while ensuring necessary work still gets done. -- CNN
The Energy 202: Lawyer with no park experience will run Grand Canyon -- April 6. A longtime Interior Department lawyer has been named superintendent of the Arizona park. Why it matters: The appointment comes on the heels of criticism over the Interior Department’s handling of national park closures, and the closure of Grand Canyon only days after a resident at the South Rim housing complex tested positive for COVID-19. -- The Washington Post
Supreme Court sides with federal workers on civil service age-bias claims -- April 6. The Supreme Court ruled that federal workers aged 40 and older are entitled to personnel actions “free from any discrimination based on age.” Why it matters: This means federal workers now have greater protections against age discrimination than workers in the private sector. -- The Wall Street Journal
#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Kate Grumke, @KGrumke
Politics producer
On this day in 1948, the United Nations formed an international organization focused on public health. That entity has played a big role in the response to the novel coronavirus.
Our question: What is the name of that organization?
Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.
Last week, we asked: On this day in 1933, the government launched a creative remedy for depression-era unemployment. A corps of young men was established to complete conservation projects across the country. It was a signature New Deal program, and in its nine years, it employed about 3 million men. What was this program called?
Answer: Civilian Conservation Corps
Congratulations to our winners. We have a group of them as we received three winning emails within seconds of one another: Bill and Barbara Barrons, David and Julie Hatoff and Cathy Peterson!!!!
Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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