How the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the US Democratic primary calendar

Bernie Sanders has pulled out of the US Democratic primary, making Joe Biden the presumptive nominee to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency in November. 

The coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented disruption to the traditional Democratic primary calendar, as well as some local races. Numerous US states and territories moved to postpone their presidential nominating contest because of the outbreak, including extending deadlines for voters to cast their ballots by mail. The US Democratic party also pushed back its presidential convention, when the party will formally decide on the nominee, from July to August.

Pushing back key primaries such as Georgia (105 delegates) and Ohio (136 delegates) could have resulted in a protracted race between Mr Biden and Mr Sanders, had the latter not suspended his campaign. Though Mr Biden was  the clear frontrunner, the lack of delegate-rich primaries between now and June 2 meant the former US vice-president may not have been able to amass the 1,991 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination before then.

Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard and Amy Klobuchar have suspended their campaigns and put their support behind Mr Biden. Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts, has also exited the race, but has not endorsed a candidate.

Though Mr Biden is the presumptive nominee, Mr Sanders has urged voters in states with upcoming primaries to continue to show their support, in the hopes of amassing more delegates so he can influence the party platform. The Financial Times will be tracking the results state by state on this page. Check back for up-to-date tallies.

How the primaries work

The number of delegates representing each state or territory is determined by a formula based on its population and levels of support for the Democratic candidate in the last three presidential elections. 

Candidates gain “pledged” delegates, who are bound to support them, roughly in proportion to their share of the vote in the state’s primary election or caucuses.

More than 700 additional delegates are drawn automatically from the party’s leadership and elected officials. These superdelegates are “unpledged”, meaning that they can support any candidate. Under new rules adopted by Democrats in 2018, superdelegates will vote at the convention only if no candidate secures a majority of the 3,979 pledged delegates needed to secure the nomination on the first ballot of the convention.

*New date after postponement.

Sources: Associated Press; Democratic National Committee

A previous version of this page incorrectly stated that the number of pledged delegates needed to win on the first ballot was 1,990. The actual figure is 1,991.