Bernie at the Pavillion

Judge orders presidential primary election back on, Bernie Sanders back on ballot

 NY Post

A federal court judge has ordered New York Democrats to reinstate the presidential primary election for June 23 after one-time candidate Andrew Yang challenged its cancellation.


Judge Analisa Torres in her decision Tuesday ruled that the New York Board of Elections’ decision to cancel the vote was unconstitutional and that all qualified candidates as of April 26 must be on the ballot.

“[T]he removal of presidential contenders from the primary ballot not only deprived those candidates of the chance to garner votes for the Democratic Party’s nomination,” Torres wrote in her opinion.
“…but also deprived their pledged delegates of the opportunity to run for a position where they could influence the party platform, vote on party governance issues, pressure the eventual nominee on matters of personnel or policy, and react to unexpected developments at the Convention.”

Yang sued the New York State Board of Elections last week, claiming the cancellation “fundamentally denie[d] [voters] the right to choose our next candidate for the office of President of the United States.”

Arthur Schwartz, an attorney for plaintiffs in the case, called the decision an “extraordinary victory for the democratic process.”

“This decision is not a win for Andrew Yang or Bernie Sanders. It is a win for democracy,” Schwartz said in a statement. “And it is also a warning to President Trump not to mess around with our right to vote him out in November.”