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By Naomi Lim, Washington Examiner
New York Democrats will have the opportunity to vote for a presidential candidate other than presumptive 2020 nominee Joe Biden.
A federal judge ordered late Tuesday that state Democratic election officials include the names of the party's other White House hopefuls on the ballot for the June 23 contest, essentially reinstating the primary.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled the decision by Democrats on the New York State Board of Elections last month to nix contenders other than Biden, who's still short of the 1,991 delegates needed to win the nomination outright, was unconstitutional. Torres's ruling was in response to a legal challenge mounted last week by vanquished candidate Andrew Yang and his supporters, as well as complaints from Bernie Sanders, who was the two-term vice president's last remaining rival before he too bowed out of the race in April.
"I'm glad that a federal judge agreed that depriving millions of New Yorkers of the right to vote was wrong," Yang tweeted. "I hope that the New York Board of Elections takes from this ruling a newfound appreciation of their role in safeguarding our democracy."
Former Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir added in a statement, "We’re glad Judge Torres has restored basic democracy in New York. People in every state should have the right to express their preference in the 2020 Democratic primary. We have confidence that New York can hold elections in June in a safe manner that preserves New Yorkers’ right to vote."
The board's original decision thwarted Sanders and Yang's plans to continue collecting delegates ahead of the Democratic National Convention, scheduled to take place this summer in Milwaukee. Hopefuls who amass at least 15% of the vote in a congressional district and statewide qualify for convention delegates, according to the New York Democratic Party’s selection rules.
Biden, Sanders, and the Democratic National Committee had already agreed to allow the Vermont senator to keep some delegates that he would have otherwise lost after suspending his bid, meaning he can exert influence on the Democratic agenda and help maintain party unity.
Multiple states pushed back or altered their primaries in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, but New York was the first to cancel its contest after shifting its other state elections from April 28 to June 23. The move was shredded by Sanders campaign adviser Jeff Weaver, who suggested the state be stripped of its delegates and the state party be investigated for its "checkered pattern of voter disenfranchisement."
“While we understood that we did not have the votes to win the Democratic nomination, our campaign was suspended, not ended, because people in every state should have the right to express their preference," Weaver wrote in a statement.
See more at Washington Examiner
New York Democrats will have the opportunity to vote for a presidential candidate other than presumptive 2020 nominee Joe Biden.
A federal judge ordered late Tuesday that state Democratic election officials include the names of the party's other White House hopefuls on the ballot for the June 23 contest, essentially reinstating the primary.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled the decision by Democrats on the New York State Board of Elections last month to nix contenders other than Biden, who's still short of the 1,991 delegates needed to win the nomination outright, was unconstitutional. Torres's ruling was in response to a legal challenge mounted last week by vanquished candidate Andrew Yang and his supporters, as well as complaints from Bernie Sanders, who was the two-term vice president's last remaining rival before he too bowed out of the race in April.
"I'm glad that a federal judge agreed that depriving millions of New Yorkers of the right to vote was wrong," Yang tweeted. "I hope that the New York Board of Elections takes from this ruling a newfound appreciation of their role in safeguarding our democracy."
Former Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir added in a statement, "We’re glad Judge Torres has restored basic democracy in New York. People in every state should have the right to express their preference in the 2020 Democratic primary. We have confidence that New York can hold elections in June in a safe manner that preserves New Yorkers’ right to vote."
The board's original decision thwarted Sanders and Yang's plans to continue collecting delegates ahead of the Democratic National Convention, scheduled to take place this summer in Milwaukee. Hopefuls who amass at least 15% of the vote in a congressional district and statewide qualify for convention delegates, according to the New York Democratic Party’s selection rules.
Biden, Sanders, and the Democratic National Committee had already agreed to allow the Vermont senator to keep some delegates that he would have otherwise lost after suspending his bid, meaning he can exert influence on the Democratic agenda and help maintain party unity.
Multiple states pushed back or altered their primaries in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, but New York was the first to cancel its contest after shifting its other state elections from April 28 to June 23. The move was shredded by Sanders campaign adviser Jeff Weaver, who suggested the state be stripped of its delegates and the state party be investigated for its "checkered pattern of voter disenfranchisement."
“While we understood that we did not have the votes to win the Democratic nomination, our campaign was suspended, not ended, because people in every state should have the right to express their preference," Weaver wrote in a statement.
See more at Washington Examiner
