Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden bends back to avoid the hand of Senator Bernie Sanders as Sanders points past Biden during the US Democratic presidential candidates debate at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, US November 20, 2019. (Reuters photo)

Former US Vice President Joe Biden has won the Alaska primary, gaining nine delegates, the state party announced on Saturday.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee beat Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who dropped out of the race for the White House on Wednesday, paving the way for Biden.

Biden won the state with 55.3% of the vote compared with 44.7% for Sanders. He now has 1,223 delegates to Sanders� 915.

This comes after Alaska shifted to postal voting due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Alaska Democratic Party changed the date of its contest from April 4 to April 10, cancelling all in-person voting in response to the virus.

Out of more than 71,000 ballots sent to registered Democrats around the state, over 19,000 ballots were returned to the state party�s office in Anchorage by Friday�s deadline.

Sanders� exit cleared the path for Biden�s nomination and campaign against Republican President Donald Trump.

It came after a series of losses to Biden, beginning in South Carolina in late February and continuing with losses in crucial states like Michigan and Florida last month.

I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour, Sanders said.

As the first reaction to Sanders� departure, Biden urged his former rival�s supporters to join his campaign.

I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country, Biden said in a statement on Wednesday.I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. You�re needed.

Meanwhile, Trump�s approval rating fell to a six-month low of 43 percent in the daily tracking poll carried out by the Republican-friendly Rasmussen Reports.

The poll that surveyed 500 likely voters was released Friday, showing 56 percent of voters disapprove of the president�s job performance.

SOURCE: PRESS TV