(Bloomberg) — Ohio’s secretary of state says people should vote — by mail, using early-voting sites and standing far apart in line for in-person voting in Tuesday’s primary elections. In a message posted Sunday on Facebook, Frank LaRose encouraged Ohioans to find ways to vote while practicing social distancing and to volunteer as a poll worker to help with a projected shortage.“Like so many things in the coming weeks, this election may look and feel a little different than normal,” he wrote. “Our nation has conducted free and fair elections during difficult times before, and on Tuesday we will do so once again.”The state has already moved some polling places such as those in senior centers to protect older residents. Poll workers will regularly sanitize voting machines and wash their hands. And absentee voters will be allowed to drop off their ballots curbside on Election Day.Trump Associates Undermine Coronavirus Message (9:38 a.m.)Some of President Donald Trump’s outside associates have raised conspiracy theories and gone against public health recommendations on coronavirus in recent days, undermining the Trump administration’s own recommendations.Former Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke, who spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention and was on Trump’s shortlist for a position at Homeland Security, promoted a conspiracy theory Sunday.In a tweet that was flagged by Twitter for violating its rules, Clarke indirectly accused philanthropist George Soros of being involved in a “FLU panic.”In a second tweet that was later removed, he urged Americans to “GO INTO THE STREETS” and demand bars, restaurants, churches, malls and schools be reopened, contradicting the advice of public health experts about gathering in large groups.Meantime, Bernie Kerik, the former New York City whom Trump pardoned in February, tweeted on Sunday that he felt the “hysteria is being created to destabilize the country” and hurt the economy under Trump.Some Trump associates have changed their tunes. After arguing that coronavirus was way below other causes of death like cancer last week, Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is now praising the president for fighting the pandemic.Biden Leads Sanders in Arizona Poll (5 a.m.)A poll released Monday shows Joe Biden with a 20-point lead over Bernie Sanders in Arizona, a state where the Vermont senator expects to do well in a primary Tuesday thanks to his support among a large Hispanic population.Sanders beats Biden 48% to 41% among the state’s Latinos in the Monmouth University poll. But Biden is well ahead among all likely Democratic primary voters, with 51% support compared with 31% for Sanders.Almost one-third of Arizona’s residents are Hispanic and Sanders is hoping to replicate his success in contests in Nevada and California, where he received a majority of Latino support.A strong showing in Arizona would help Sanders partially offset his weakness in the three other states that hold primaries Tuesday — Arizona, Florida and Ohio — where Biden has huge leads in polls.The poll of 373 voters who are likely to vote in the Democratic presidential primary has a margin of error of 5.1 percentage points. — Emma KineryComing UpArizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio will hold primaries on Tuesday.(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, also sought the Democratic presidential nomination. He endorsed Joe Biden on March 4.)–With assistance from Emma Kinery.To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Teague Beckwith in Washington, D.C. at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at [email protected], Magan CraneFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
