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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that his state would push back its scheduled April 28 presidential primary election to June 23 over coronavirus fears.
His state joins several others that have taken similar action, including Connecticut and Maryland, which were both scheduled to vote on April 28 as well.
“We’re supposed to have a presidential primary election that’s coming up on April 28. I don’t think it’s wise to be bringing a lot of people to one location to vote. A lot of people touching one doorknob, a lot of people touching one pen, whatever you call the new device on the ballots,” Cuomo said.
TRUMP MULLS CORONAVIRUS QUARANTINE ON NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, CONNECTICUT
He continued: “So we are going to delay that and link it to an election that was previously scheduled on June 23. The June 23 date is for state legislative races and congressional races. We’ll move the presidential election to that date.”
Cuomo mentioned that he had previously been an advocate for combining presidential primaries with other primaries in his state in order to make things more convenient for voters.
Also in his Saturday press conference, the governor responded to reports that President Trump is considering implementing an “enforceable quarantine” on New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
“I don’t even know what that means,” Cuomo said, seemingly caught off guard by reporters’ questions on the issue. “I don’t know how that could be legally enforceable and from a medical point of view I don’t know what you would be accomplishing. But I can tell you I don’t even like the sound of it, not even understanding what it is I don’t like the sound of it.”
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Cuomo also said Saturday that his state was evaluating CDC guidelines on what to do in the case of a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical professionals, emphasized his state’s need for 30,000 ventilators for the anticipated “apex” of the coronavirus crisis in New York, which he said could happen in the next 14 to 21 days, and said his state would begin setting up a handful of hospitals exclusively for patients ill with the coronavirus.
