Primary: eight American states at the polls, test poll in time of epidemic

Voters in eight US states and the District of Columbia are called to the polls this Tuesday, June 2 for primaries, the largest test to date of the authorities' ability to cope with an influx of postal votes and to manage risks. sanitation in polling stations against the background of an epidemic linked to the coronavirus.

Read also: American presidential: the strange campaign in the basement of Joe Biden

This election, the most important since the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, is a dress rehearsal for the presidential election of November 3 and provides an overview of the challenges to be met nationally if this election were to be held under the persistent threat of coronavirus. Four of the states involved in Tuesday's polls - Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island - should have voted earlier but had postponed the primaries originally scheduled at the height of the epidemic which left more than 104,000 people dead in the United States.

Read also: Steve Bannon: "The Chinese threat will be the key subject of the presidential election of 2020"

As the virus continues to circulate there, all of the states holding votes on Tuesday - including South Dakota, Iowa, Montana and New Mexico - have stepped up and encouraged postal voting. Consequence: a record number of postal votes requested or carried out in many States, but also an explosion of questions, confusion or reports of delayed or lost ballot requests. Most states will also drastically reduce the number of physical polling stations, failing to recruit enough assessors.

" After June 2, we will see much more clearly on the points to be resolved for November, and we hope that we can find practical solutions ," said Suzanne Almeida, acting director of the Common Cause Pennsylvania tellers. " These primaries come against the backdrop of lingering disputes over postal voting, which Democrats see as a safe option but which Republican President Donald Trump sees as an opportunity for fraud.

Read also: United States: Republican elected officials silence a positive case of Covid-19, the fury of the Democrats

Former Vice President Joe Biden is almost certain to be the Democratic candidate in the presidential election next November against the current White House tenant, but in seven of the states, the primaries also involve Congressmen and local officials.