据美国《世界日报》报道，受新冠肺炎疫情影响，美国至少13个州已延后初选投票；随着美国卫生官员警告疫情可能持续几个星期甚至几个月，可能有更多的州推迟选举安排，给11月的美国总统大选蒙上阴影。
资料图：当地时间3月3日，美国总统初选迎来“超级星期二”。图为当天在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿的一处投票点。
中新社记者 陈孟统 摄
据报道，目前，美国总统初选才进行了一半，还有23州尚未投票，让选务官员十分头痛。乔治亚州选务主管说：“发生飓风和野火之类的天灾和其他问题，我们通常都能应付，现在面对的却是快速蔓延、不断扩大的疫情威胁，根本不知道何时才会了结。”
乔治亚州、俄亥俄州、马里兰州、印第安纳州、路易斯安纳州、康涅狄格州和肯塔基州都把预定的初选延到5月或6月，罗德岛选务当局也建议延到6月，威斯康辛州官员则还在辩论是否应该更变投票日期。
亚利桑纳、佛罗里达和伊利诺州17日如期举行初选，俄亥俄州却停止原定当天进行的投票，因为联邦当局敦促65岁以上的人不要外出。
除了总统选举之外，许多国会议员和地方公职初选也受到影响。虽然有关官员表示延后选举让他们有更多时间部署，让民众能够安全的投票，包括改变投票所地点、招募后备人员和准备更多消毒用品，但现在还不知道5月或6月进行投票能否更安全，
一些政府官员敦促加强邮寄投票，可是有些州却必须立法或修宪才能进行邮寄投票。选举专家说，即使克服这些法律障碍，邮寄投票仍很花钱，并面临各种困难。例如：邮费应由纳税人公款还是选民出，以及是否需要装设新的机器和软件以追踪、处理和统计邮寄的选票等。
截至23日，美国宾夕法尼亚州累计确诊644例新冠肺炎病例。该州州长沃尔夫表示，宾州初选将从原定的4月28日推迟至6月2日举行。他同时对该州治下6郡发出居家避疫令。
New crown affects us presidential primary: at least 13 states delay voting
The novel coronavirus pneumonia has been delayed by the election of the US at least 13 states, and the US government may warn that the epidemic may last for weeks or even months, and more states may postpone the election arrangements, which will cast a shadow over the November presidential election, according to the World Journal.
Click to go to the next page
Information chart: on March 3 local time, the US presidential primary ushered in "Super Tuesday". The picture shows a polling place in Arlington, Virginia that day. Photo by Chen Meng, reporter of China News Agency
According to reports, at present, only half of the US presidential primary has been held, and 23 states have not yet voted, which makes election officials have a headache. "We usually deal with natural disasters and other problems such as hurricanes and wildfires, but now we are facing the threat of a rapidly spreading and expanding epidemic, and we don't know when it will be over," said Georgia's director of election
Georgia, Ohio, Maryland, Indiana, Louisiana, Connecticut and Kentucky have all extended their scheduled primaries to may or June. The Rhode Island election authority has also proposed extending them to June. Wisconsin officials are still debating whether the voting date should be changed.
Arizona, Florida and Illinois held their primaries as scheduled on the 17th, while Ohio stopped voting for the day because federal authorities urged people over 65 not to go out.
In addition to the presidential election, many congressmen and local public primaries have also been affected. Although officials say the delay will give them more time to deploy and allow people to vote safely, including changing the location of polling places, recruiting backup personnel and preparing more disinfection supplies, it is not clear whether it will be safer to vote in May or June,
Some government officials have urged more postal voting, but some states have to legislate or amend the constitution to do so. Election experts say that even if these legal barriers are overcome, voting by mail is still expensive and faces difficulties. For example, whether the postage should be paid by taxpayers or voters, and whether new machines and software should be installed to track, process and count the votes mailed, etc.
As of 23, novel coronavirus pneumonia was diagnosed in 644 cases in Pennsylvania. Governor Wolff said the Pennsylvania primary would be postponed from April 28 to June 2. At the same time, he issued a home epidemic prevention order for six counties under the state.
