He added the election delay was inevitable in part because the September date would have required the dissolution of Parliament on Monday to allow for a month of campaigning. “It’s a straightforward political decision.”New Zealand’s election is far from the first to be postponed because of the pandemic. And though President Trump floated the idea of delaying the general election, he was promptly shut down by members of Congress and his own party. In the short-term, Ms. Ardern’s delay will allow her government to focus primarily on the virus. A New Zealand Herald-Kantar poll taken over the weekend showed that 60 percent of New Zealanders favored a delay.

Source: New York Times August 17, 2020 04:30 UTC