"Today I have certified that the state of emergency exists and requested that the governor issue an executive order postponing the elections this spring", Ardoin said.
Ardoin said state officials have requested that the primaries scheduled to take place on 4 April be delayed until 20 June, and the 9 May general elections be delayed until 25 July.
On 10 March, six US states held primary elections with more than 350 delegates up for grabs including Michigan (125 delegates), Missouri (36) and Washington (89).
Senator Bernie Sanders picked up his first win in Tuesday’s six-state Democratic presidential primary in an otherwise poor showing that gave former Vice President Joe Biden a commanding lead in his bid for the party’s presidential nomination.
With 100 percent of the votes counted in North Dakota, Sanders bested Biden by a 53.3-39.8 percent margin, as reported in the New York Times.
To secure the Democratic nomination, a candidate needs to secure votes from 1991 pledged delegates.
The US has over 1,300 COVID-19 cases out of 127,000 confirmed globally with at least 38 deaths out of more 4,700 reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The country ranks eighth in a disease expansion, now officially recognized as a pandemic.
