Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont moved the Democratic and Republican primary elections to June 2 in order to comply with social distancing efforts to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This decision was met with various reactions from the Westport community. 

“The country needs to regain some sort of normalcy and keeping the primaries’ dates as they are is one way to do it,” Sofia Abrams-Rivera ’20 said. 

Other students agree that this decision illustrates the current state of the country. 

“It definitely shows how [COVID-19] has impacted every aspect of our lives, politics included,” Amy Ginzburg ’22 said, “but I think it’s good that politicians have taken that step to keep everyone safe by postponing primaries.”

Fifteen U.S. states and Puerto Rico have also moved the date of their presidential primary elections due to COVID-19, as of April 1. 

But Wisconsin still held its democratic primary on Tuesday, April 7 against advice from public health officials. 

Their governor Tony Evers and state leaders agreed on the importance of state and local races that would be happening the same day for sheriffs, mayors, court judges, state Supreme Court, and other positions, according to the New York Times. 

Election officials have also suggested changes they can make to voting systems to allow Americans to vote while staying safe and preventing the spread of the virus.

Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has urged states not to postpone their primaries but instead embrace the expansion of voting by mail. 

“Voting by mail or pushing the date for the primary would bring in more voters and promote safety,” Sarah Thomas ’22 said. 

Alaska’s primary elections were only pushed back six days, from April 4 to April 10, while New York and Kentucky’s primaries aren’t set to occur until June 23. 

“I think that the way certain states are handling the primaries shows their priorities,” Sarah Thomas ’22 said, “and how they view the importance of avoiding the spread of COVID-19.”