New York Removes Sanders From Ballot, Cancels Democratic Presidential Primary Amid Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak
Board co-chairman Douglas Kellner said Bernie’s supporters want a “beauty contest,” which “seems to be unnecessary and indeed frivolous” due to the viral outbreak.
The Wuhan coronavirus forced New York to move its presidential primary from April 28 to June 23.
But as the outbreak continues, the New York Board of Elections chose to remove Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) from the ballot since he stopped campaigning and canceled the primary since former Vice President Joe Biden is the presumptive nominee.
The board’s decision will likely ignite anger among Sanders’ supporters.
Sanders dropped out earlier this month and eventually endorsed Biden. However, he wanted to remain on the ballots in the remaining states as a way to pressure the Democratic Party to embrace his radical ideas.
New York has 274 pledged delegates, which would have allowed Sanders to gain more and make a more significant mark on the party’s platform.
Sanders’s campaign wrote the board a letter on Sunday. They “urged the board to keep him on the ballot and hold a primary in the interest of party unity.”
New York’s new budget has a provision that allows the board “to remove presidential candidates who have suspended their campaigns.”
Members of the board reminded Sanders and his supporters that the possibility of spreading the coronavirus during the primary “counterbalanced” their requests. Plus, Sanders is not a candidate anymore. Why risk public health?
Board co-chairman Douglas Kellner said the supporters want a “beauty contest,” which “seems to be unnecessary and indeed frivolous” due to the viral outbreak.
Here’s video. @NYSBOE co-chair notes @BernieSanders dropped out of race so New York primary is logical, especially in light of COVID crisis, is frivolous. He says Sanders backers want “beauty contest.” pic.twitter.com/jCFpDqhigY
— Emily Ngo (@emilyngo) April 27, 2020
The board has encouraged people in 42 counties to vote absentee since those people have down-ballot races. People in 20 counties do not, which means they will not have any open polls on June 23.
Our Revolution, a group that supports Sanders, warned New York that if the board suppressed people from voting for Sanders would “lead to attacks on the Party across the nation and harm the volunteer effort that our group and others are building for Joe Biden.”
Larry Cohen, the group’s chair, might “challenge the New York delegation on the floor of the convention.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would not “second guess” the board. Cohen still blamed “Cuomo and what he believe (sic) is his control of the state party apparatus.”
New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs does not know what the cancellation will “mean for the state’s delegate part at the convention,” but the “decision would be left the Democratic National Committee’s rules committee.”
I found a few people on Twitter who feel it’s a conspiracy against them and Sanders.
look this is obviously meant to alienate Sanders supporters and undermine left-wing challengers down ballot but what does the campaign expect when the candidate suspends his campaign and endorses his opponent https://t.co/3U27biTgh4
— Brendan O’Connor (@_grendan) April 27, 2020
This radical, undemocratic move will deny the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party delegates and power at the convention.
This is what attempting to force consensus looks like. https://t.co/PmB0fc8mcO
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) April 27, 2020
An act of voter suppression & NYS is not hiding it. Cuomo is no Democratic hero. NYer’s have yet to cast their vote for the presidential primary.
There is no reason why we cannot vote by mail instead of finding excuses to undercut voting powers.https://t.co/snlLed8CdI
— Shaniyat Chowdhury for US Congress NY5 (@Shaniyat2020) April 27, 2020
When the #Biden campaign demanded primaries, the #Democrats held them, risk be damned. When it’s no longer convenient, they cancel them.
This could’ve been done safely by mail. It’s not about public health but continuing to screw #Sanders supporters.
— Kurt Hackbarth ? (@KurtHackbarth) April 27, 2020
It’s official — the second largest Democratic state doesn’t get to participate in the Democratic Party nomination process.
I will not be supporting the Party that didn’t give me an opportunity to vote.https://t.co/7NEG1G7YKw
— NY For Sanders #Bernie2020 (@NYforSanders) April 27, 2020
The fear was that Bernie Sanders, even with a suspended campaign, would win the New York primary, humiliating the already disgraced presumptive nominee and calling his nomination into question. The Democratic Party put a stop to that.
— cabral (@axcomrade) April 27, 2020
New York State has voted to remove Bernie Sanders from the New York primary ballot.
I can’t even vote for my preferred candidate because my home state doesn’t believe in democracy. Love it!
— Carlo (@yesthatCarlo) April 27, 2020
Huge. More evidence of #Democrats disenfranchising @BernieSanders voters. #Cuomo #BernieOnTheBallothttps://t.co/sbpsy3lSKf
— Tom Basile ?? (@Tom_Basile) April 27, 2020
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Comments
Biden…. the truly “selected” candidate. Pretty soon the “deselected” candidate. Timing is everything. I bet the heir apparent is already approved… just the theater needs to play out.
Well… in a Brokered Convention…
It don’t matter who is on the ballot.
This decision may end up costing me some work. The presidential primary was to have a week of early voting before it, while the congressional primary does not. As a poll worker I had indicated my availability for 6 of the 8 days of early voting; last November I was not called for early voting, but in ordinary circumstances, given the expected high volume of presidential primary voters, I expected to be called.
Whether it ends up costing me money as well depends on how much other work comes in that week. Elections don’t pay that well per hour; it’s $200 a day, but the day is from 5am till well after 10pm, with 2 hours in breaks.
come on berniebros…the time is nigh….don’t let us down!
Ummm… It’s been well established in law that primaries belong toe political parties. Did the Democrat Party request his name be removed? If so- then remove it. I don’t see where the board of elections has any power or right to remove people from a party primary.
By the same power and right that the board of elections holds primaries in the place — statute. The law instructs and authorizes it to hold primaries, and an amendment in this year’s budget gave it the authority to remove inactive candidates. The Democratic Party is free to hold its own primary, at its own expense and with its own resources, but of course it won’t, especially since this decision was made by its delegates on the board of elections.
This is why Bernie shouldn’t have announced he was suspending his campaign and endorsing Biden, even if it had become clear he wasn’t going to get enough delegates to win the nomination.
Staying in the race until the finish line doesn’t mean you have to continue making campaign appearances and other expensive efforts. You could, like Biden, just do a vidcast every now and then from your basement.
Better keep the Crash Box charged up. Bernie is going to need another ZAP when he hears this!
The Republican primary was canceled two months ago, after Weld failed to file enough names of would-be delegates. That decision was made by the Republican members of the board of elections, just as this one was made by the board’s Democrat members.
I don’t know what the BernieBros are upset about. The old Bolshevik dropped out of the 2020 race some weeks ago, and also did a similar wilting act in 2016 when he gave Hillary! a free pass on Her email controversy.
I think all of bernie’s supporters should sit the election this year. They’re being abused very badly by the democrats.
Wait, Wait a minute! Isn’t it supposed to be the Republicans who are bent on messing with primaries and sabataging voters’ rights? That’s what the all the Leftists in my Facebook feed are going on about. Funny…..
Here is a take that is …creative. The Sanders campaign claims that because NY Democrats are canceling their Presidential primary Trump will be emboldened to “postpone” the 2020 general election.
https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2020/04/27/new-york-cancels-primary-sanders-campaign-calls-precedent-trump-delaying-2020-election/
Reminds me of the recent MSM/DNC axis lament that Kamala Harris’ campaign in the Democrat primary was done in by racist misogynist Trump supporters. Wow.
That’s not “creative”, it’s downright ridiculous. Yes, if in a given state there were only one candidate for president, the November presidential election could be canceled. The electors would still have to be appointed, and the electoral college would still have to vote, but there would be no point in holding a general election in that state. If there were only one candidate in the whole country, then every state can cancel its November presidential election. But there is never only one candidate. Trump is running again, and the Dems are definitely going to put up someone against him. So the “precedent” is irrelevant.
The political parties have the option to pay for primary elections vs letting/depending upon the state governments to do so. By not choosing to do that they have to live with the constraints the state’s impose.
Sanders suspended his primary campaign. What did his folks expect would happen? IMO this is a petty decision by the state and it’s d establishment to punish Sanders, his supporters and down ballot Sanders like candidates, but it is the State’s option.
It is also very short sighted. The establishment may punish Sanders and his wing in the primary, but at some cost:
1. Potentially the N.Y. State block of delegates may not be seated at d national convention or if seated then over a public floor fight bringing the issue back into public view.
2. The irony and hypocrisy of the d party establishment removing a candidate from the ballot whilst simultaneously declaring that the r party is the party of voter suppression is too much to take for most people.
3. You can bet your last nickel that this winds up in r campaign ads across the nation. Certainly every time a d says voter suppression you should be prepared to avert your eyes to the impending insertion of this episode to a part of the anatomy where the sun don’t shine.
It’s not “a petty decision by the state and its D establishment to punish Sanders”. It has nothing to do with Sanders. If anything it’s about lowering the turnout for the congressional primaries, on the theory that high turnout will favor the left-wing challengers trying to do an AOC to Dem incumbents. For instance my representative, who’s in the communist-aligned Congressional Progressive Caucus, is facing two challengers on the left, plus a DINO hoping to take advantage of the split and slip through the gap they create. I’m not sure whether lower turnout will help or hurt him, but I switched my registration so I can vote for him.
Milhouse,
I made exactly the same point you did about lowering turnout in hopes the establishment d can fight off primary challenges down ballot. The only real difference is my characterization of the state action/d establishment action as ‘petty’.
I continue to believe it is petty bury you are of course free to hold another opinion.
The view from outside N.Y. is that ‘there the d establishment goes again, never missing an opportunity to do Sanders dirty.’
The long term ramifications are too delicious; the d establishment which controls N.Y. is very publicly doing that which it projects upon r, suppression of votes. I don’t disagree that the state didn’t have the option to do so, but they have to live with the consequences of their choice.
I foresee much hay being made in the form of attack ads and r talking points in future debates. The d establishment owns this action. In my opinion it is an unforced error on their part.
Seems like the Democrat party is not very democratic. Whoda thunk it? Why have rules that no one follows? Never mind.
They did follow the rules. And there’s nothing democratic about having an election where there’s only one candidate.
I wonder if Proconsul Cuomo-the-Younger will allow anyone else on the ballot in the general: for Governor, for President, for dog catcher?
Aren’t there supposed to be bananas in a banana Republic?
Where are my bananas?