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.
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.
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