Bernie Sanders Calls Decision By NY To Cancel Presidential Primary A “Blow To American Democracy”

The New York State Board of Elections passed a resolution canceling the Democratic presidential primary on Monday, further diminishing any influence by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who suspended his campaign bid close to three weeks ago, clearing a path for former Vice President Joe Biden as the likely nominee.

The decision left the Sanders campaign to issue a statement calling the decision “a blow to American democracy.”

“Just last week, Vice President Biden warned the American people that President [Donald] Trump could use the current crisis as an excuse to postpone the November election,” said Jeff Weaver, Senior Adviser to the Sanders campaign. “Well, he now has a precedent thanks to New York State.”

Citing COVID-19 health risks to the public and Board staff who would have had to prepare for the election, the state’s two Democratic Commissioners both voted to suspend the contest. Co-chair Douglas Kellner and Andrew Spano, said the decision was difficult, especially given the “thousands” of emails from Sanders supporters pushing them to keep it. But they noted that a newly passed provision in state election law allowed the body to remove presidential candidates from the ballot if they had suspended their campaign.

“Senator Sanders not only announced he suspended his campaign, but he also announced a public endorsement of Joe Biden,” Kellner said adding, “What the Sanders supporters want is essentially a beauty contest that given the situation with the public health emergency that exists now seems to be unnecessary and indeed frivolous.”

Listen to Brigid Bergin explain the decision on WNYC:

Spano, the former Westchester County Executive, said he just made his mind up this morning. Foremost in his mind was the health of Board staff who would be running the election. But he also talked about seeing people sickened after casting ballots in primaries across the country.

“Looking at the situation in Wisconsin and seeing those people on the lines, and having been myself locked up in here, trying to avoid getting any kind of contagion, I've come to the conclusion that we should minimize the number of people on the ballot, minimize the election for the protection of everybody, but give the opportunity to vote in the actual elections for candidates and not have anyone on the ballot just for the purposes of issues at a convention,” said Spano.

The move to cancel the presidential primary was also backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Sanders surrogate, who was asked about the potential cancellation before the state Board made it official.

“I was a proud supporter of Senator Sanders. He obviously made the decision to leave the race and support Vice President Biden. I think that matter is closed. So, I think keeping the election activity to a minimum in this environment makes sense. What I’m looking forward to getting through this recovery the right way,” said de Blasio.

The change deals a blow to many Sanders supporters seeking an end-run to Sanders’ campaign suspension. Even though Sanders had already endorsed Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, Sanders supporters were encouraging voters to cast ballots for delegates friendly to the Democratic socialist’s progressive platform in upcoming primaries. Those delegates would then have greater say in deciding how much of that platform can be officially incorporated to the Democrats’ official agenda.

That charge was led by Our Revolution, a 501(c)(4) group that reached out to registered voters to vote for Sanders-friendly delegates in Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, states that were scheduled to have a primary in the coming weeks.

“This decision violates DNC rules, and is a cynical move aimed at returning control of 274 delegates to the bureaucratic party,” said Larry Cohen, Board Chair of Our Revolution, who accused the state of suppressing progressive voices in the party. He also vowed to take the issue to the party’s credentials committee to challenge any delegates that New York sends to the convention in August.

The Working Families Party released a statement blasting the board’s decision as un-democratic and detrimental to reshaping the national Democratic agenda.

“New York’s Democratic Party just sent a clear message to progressives that their voice and their values do not matter,” wrote Working Families Party State Director Sochie Nnaemeka, in a statement. “If we want to defeat Donald Trump, the national Democratic Party must run on an agenda that can turn out voters who were energized by Sanders’ campaign --and blocking progressives from shaping the platform is a step in the wrong direction.”

The state Board of Elections commissioners pushed back on Sanders supporters who were advocating for delegate spots. Kellner said it was clear his supporters did not understand how the delegates were allocated, saying that the winner of the primary determined the number of delegates representing a candidate.

Before the State Board moved on to the rest of their agenda, Republican co-chair Peter Kosiniski chimed in with a clarifying question to make the action taken by the Democratic Commissioner completely clear. “Can I just clarify, for purposes of the voters, does this mean there'll be no Democratic primary for president in New York?” said Kosiniski.

“That's right,” said Kellner, “That Joe Biden is the only candidate, and therefore, he has effectively won the New York primary.”

Update 4:15 p.m.: The Democratic National Committee released a statement calling out the state Board of Election's move to canceling the primary and giving all the delegates to Biden. "Any substantive change to a state's first determining step in allocating delegates like this one will need to be reviewed by the DNC's Rules and By-Laws Committee," David Bergstein, DNC spokesman, said in a statement. "Once the state party submits an updated delegate selection plan, the committee will review that plan and make a determination."