Biden wins Democratic primaries in Hawaii

Honolulu, May 24 (IANS) Former US Vice President Joe Biden won Hawaii’s Democratic presidential primary.

The Democratic Party had cancelled in-person voting for the primary, which was originally scheduled to be held on April 4, and conducted the process by a vote-by-mail system due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports Efe news.

Interim Democratic Party Chair Kate Stanley told the media on Saturday that Biden, who is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the upcoming election in November, secured 63 per cent of the votes while Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the progressive candidate who quit the party race and was now backing the former Vice President, obtained 37 per cent.

Following the change in the voting system on account of the lockdown measures imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus, more than 79,000 ballots were sent and around 35,000 were returned by mail.

The deadline for returning the mail-ballot was Friday, the Democratic party had said in a statement late March confirming the cancellation of on-site voting.

“Third round ballots should arrive in homes on or about May 2, 2020. The mail-ballot return deadline is May 22, 2020. Results will be tabulated and released on May 23, 2020,” the party had said.

Biden, who is almost certain to become the Democratic nominee for President, was embroiled in a controversy on Friday after he suggested that African-Americans who consider voting for the current president Donald Trump over him in the November election “ain’t black”.

Biden made this comment during an interview on “The Breakfast Club” morning radio show, which is popular in the black community.

He apologized for his comment hours later when the controversy had already erupted saying that he “shouldn’t have been so cavalier”.

“I know the comments have come off like I was taking the African vote for granted. But nothing could be further from the truth,” Biden said during a phone call with the US Black Chamber of Commerce.

Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign accused Biden of being “racist”.

“Joe Biden declaring who is and isn’t black is the height of elitist Democrat arrogance,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said.

–IANS

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