The coronavirus-delayed Georgia presidential primary could play a major role after all in this year’s election process.
Joe Biden is on the cusp of formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination after winning hundreds more delegates in Tuesday’s primary contests that tested the nation’s ability to run elections while balancing a pandemic and sweeping social unrest.
Biden could lock down the nomination next week as Georgia and West Virginia hold primaries.
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Seven states and the District of Columbia held their presidential primaries as voters navigated coronavirus concerns and curfews in place amid protests over George Floyd's death while in police custody.
Biden was already his party’s presumptive nominee heading into Tuesday’s elections, as every other candidate in the once-historically-crowded Democratic primary has dropped out of the race. But after Tuesday’s wins, Biden needs 88 delegates to clinch the nomination.
Georgia has 120 pledged delegates to this year’s Democratic convention, 105 of which will be decided on Tuesday’s outcome. West Virginia has 34.
On Tuesday, Biden won the Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Mexico and South Dakota primaries. As of 10 p.m., Montana was the only state holding a presidential primary to have not reported any results.
Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania were rocked by protests following Floyd’s death. The dynamic was especially intense in Washington, where wait times exceeded 90 minutes at several voting locations even after the mayor's 7 p.m. curfew.
»RELATED: NC rejects GOP convention without full ‘health protocols’
While D.C. officials said voters wouldn't be arrested for breaking curfew ahead of the scheduled 8 p.m. poll close, thousands more protesters clogged key areas around the district, setting up a potential clash with law enforcement agencies and National Guard troops during a fifth night of social unrest.
Pennsylvania, which offered the day's biggest trove of delegates, also represented a significant test case for Republicans and Democrats working to strengthen their operations in a premier general election battleground.
Credit: AJC
There were also reports of long lines amid curfew concerns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's largest city, where National Guard troops and military vehicles patrolled the streets and election officials consolidated the vast majority of polling places to minimize health risks, according to Erin Kramer, executive director of One Pennsylvania. She noted that some polling places in African American communities are in police stations.
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"Having to stand in line while police officers are entering and exiting the building on police business is not exactly how people want to spend their election day," Kramer said.
Biden was in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning to deliver remarks about the civil unrest that has erupted across the nation. He didn't talk about the primary, instead focusing his attention on Trump, whom Biden blasted as "more interested in power than in principle."
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is not actively campaigning, having suspended his operation and endorsed Biden, but his name did appear on ballots. On the eve of Tuesday's primaries, senior adviser Jeff Weaver encouraged progressives to vote for Sanders anyway.
"People who support Bernie Sanders and his agenda, who want to maximize the influence of progressives at the convention, should cast their vote for Bernie Sanders," Weaver said, reminding voters that the Vermont senator is seeking leverage to shape the party's platform and rules.
The comments serve as a reminder that Biden may have no legitimate Democratic rivals remaining but must still win over skeptical activists from his party's far-left flank, who worry he's too close to the political establishment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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