STATESBORO — Georgia’s 2020 presidential primary election will be delayed until Tuesday, May 19 because of concerns about COVID-19.

Over the past week, a total of seven states so far and Puerto Rico have announced that they are no longer holding primary elections on their originally scheduled dates.

In addition to delaying the election, the voter registration deadline has been extended to April 20.

How do I vote?

If you are registered to vote in a county besides Bulloch County, you can request and submit an absentee ballot or vote at any designated early voting location in the county that you are registered to vote in.

Because the original Georgia primary date was March 24, early voting had already begun and has now been postponed as well. Early voting will resume on April 27, and any votes that have already been cast through early voting or absentee ballots will be counted along with the rest of the votes in May.

Additional information regarding how, where and when to vote can be found on the Georgia My Voter Page website (https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do) and the Georgia Secretary of State website (https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/elections).

Who can I vote for?

This year’s presidential race began with 28 Democratic candidates and four Republican candidates, but now only two Democrats and one Republican remain.

To gain the nomination for president, candidates need to obtain a certain number of delegates. The number of delegates a candidate receives is based on the percentage of the votes they obtain in each state.

Joe Biden, former vice president, is the current Democratic frontrunner with 1,201 delegates. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders currently has 896 delegates. A Democratic candidate must obtain 1,991 delegates to become the 2020 Democratic nominee.

Some of Biden’s issues include two years of free college, expanding existing student debt relief programs, increasing pay for teachers and continuing to build on Obama administration policies such as the Affordable Care Act. Additional issues and details on them can be found on Biden’s campaign website (https://joebiden.com/).

Some of Sanders’ issues include tuition-free public colleges and universities, cancelling student loan debt, Medicare for All, a Green New Deal and expansion of Social Security. Additional information and details on other policies can be found on Sanders’ campaign website (https://berniesanders.com/issues/).

President Donald Trump is the only remaining Republican candidate and has already earned enough delegates to become the 2020 Republican nominee for president.

Many of Trump’s policies center around reversing policies put in place by the Obama administration, such as those regarding health care, immigration and environmental regulation. Additional policy information and summaries of policies already put in place by the Trump administration can be found on Trump’s campaign website (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/).

Abby Fuller, The George-Anne News Reporter, gaeditor@georgiasouthern.edu