Federal Judge Orders Officials To Restore New York Primary, Drawing Cheers From Sanders Camp

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Democratic candidates including Sen. Bernie Sanders who were struck from the New York State ballot should be restored, ordering officials to conduct a presidential primary they had opted to cancel amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

In a 30-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres wrote that the plaintiffs, which included former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, had presented a credible argument on the basis of constitutional rights. Yang praised the ruling on Twitter.

“Plaintiffs and Plaintiff-Intervenors have made a strong showing of irreparable harm without emergency relief,” and “that the public interest would be served by such relief,” wrote Torres, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

John Conklin, the director of public information for the New York State Board of Elections, said the board’s attorneys were reviewing the ruling “and considering our options.”

Former vice president Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and has earned the endorsement of Sanders, I-Vt., and other former rivals. But when Sanders suspended his campaign, he said he intended to remain on ballots in upcoming contests to continue to accumulate delegates to the national convention. His stated intent was to influence the platform and other pivotal decisions.

“We’re glad Judge Torres has restored basic democracy in New York,” Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. “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.”

Last week, Democratic commissioners on the state elections board, after weighing Sanders’s push to stay on the ballot along with the impact of conducting a vote during the pandemic, opted to remove him and other contenders, concluding that the primary was effectively settled.

Since New York does not hold uncontested primaries, the decision had the effect of scrapping the vote.

At the time, the Sanders campaign blasted the state officials over their decision, with a top adviser issuing a statement calling it “blow to American democracy.”

The standoff created fresh tension in a party that was showing signs of healing some of the wounds that had opened during a contentious primary campaign that lasted more than a year.

Torres’ ruling directed officials to hold the primary on June 23, the date they had once planned to conduct it, after moving it back from April 28 due to the pandemic.

The New York State Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Biden campaign had no immediate comment.

Sanders supporters and campaign veterans cheered the news, which came on the heels of a new political action committee some of them had formed to help win votes in remaining primaries.

Winnie Wong, a co-founder of the Once Again PAC, urged followers not to “fall in line” before the primaries were over.

Nina Turner, who had served as a national co-chair on the Sanders campaign and is advising the PAC, said in an interview that his supporters needed him to win more delegates to have maximum influence over the party platform. She argued that putting the party on record in favor of Medicare-for-all and marijuana legalization, among other Sanders priorities, would make Biden a stronger nominee.

“This is not about one single politician,” Turner said. “This is about a movement. This is about a social contract.”

Jack Califano, a former organizing director for the Sanders campaign, tweeted “Let’s win New York. To show his enthusiasm, he added an expletive to his message.

 (c) 2020, The Washington Post · Sean Sullivan, David Weigel  

{Matzav.com}