Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper said Friday that primary elections will go ahead as planned on Tuesday, despite the spread of the coronavirus.
Pepper said the state is doing all it can to make the voting process as safe as possible.
“Everything you can do to encourage social distancing, even in the voting process, you should do,” Pepper told Hill.TV.
“One thing that we’re really pushing hard is that people can still vote early, they can still send it by mail, if it’s postmarked by [March 16], it still counts,” he added.
Pepper also said the party was doing everything it can to prevent voting problems that happened on Super Tuesday, such as hours-long lines. Ohio, along with Florida, Illinois and Arizona, are all expected to vote on Tuesday.
His remarks came a day after Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton, speaking at a press conference alongside Gov. Mike DeWine (R), estimated that more than 100,000 people in the state have coronavirus.
The United States has at least 1,700 confirmed cases and 31 deaths.
Louisiana is postponing its April 4 primary due to concerns over the novel coronavirus, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin (R) announced Friday.
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