New York cancels 2020 presidential primary, angering Bernie Sanders campaign

ALBANY – New York has cancelled its Democratic presidential primary for 2020 as the coronavirus continues its spread, angering Bernie Sanders supporters who were hoping to win more delegates to influence their party's platform.

The state's Democratic election commissioners voted Monday to remove Sanders and nine other presidential candidates from the New York ballot, making use of a new measure in state law allowing them to do so if a candidate publicly suspends his or her campaign.

The move left former Vice President Joe Biden — the lone remaining Democrat actively seeking the party's nomination — as the only name on New York's Democratic primary ballot, effectively canceling the primary.

The primary election had originally been scheduled for Tuesday before Gov. Andrew Cuomo delayed it to June 23 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit New York harder than any other state.

Both Democratic commissioners, Douglas Kellner and former Westchester County Executive Andy Spano, voted Monday in favor of cancelling the race.

Kellner called the vote "a very difficult decision." But he said holding the primary would have been "unnecessary and frivolous" in the age of the COVID-19, accusing Sanders supporters of wanting to hold a "beauty contest."

"Senator Sanders has not only announced that he's suspending his campaign but he's also announced a public endorsement of Joe Biden," Kellner said. "That has effectively ended the real context for the primary election."

Bernie camp pushing for delegates

Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont who is a darling among the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, dropped out of the primary earlier this month, ceding the race to Biden.

But Sanders kept his name on the ballot in hopes of winning additional delegates to the Democratic National Convention in hopes of influencing the party's rules and platform.

Kellner and Spano were bombarded with emails in recent days from Sanders supporters hoping to win a share of the state's 274 pledged delegates.

New York's Democratic primary is a dual race: Voters cast ballots for their preferred presidential candidate as well as a slate of delegates to represent them at the party convention.

In a statement, the Sanders campaign ripped New York's decision to cancel, calling it an "an outrage" and "a blow to American democracy."

Jeff Weaver, a Bernie 2020 senior advisor, called on the Democratic National Committee to reverse the decision. Absent that, he said New York should be stripped of all its 2020 Democratic delegates for violating its party-approved delegate selection plan.

"No one asked New York to cancel the election," Weaver said. "The DNC didn’t request it. The Biden campaign didn’t request it. And our campaign communicated that we wanted to remain on the ballot."

Weaver continued: "Given that the primary is months away, the proper response must be to make the election safe – such as going to all vote by mail – rather than to eliminating people’s right to vote completely."

New law inserted in state budget

The decision to cancel the primary was made possible by a clause inserted into New York's state budget, which Cuomo and state lawmakers approved early this month amid the growing coronavirus outbreak.

The clause allowed a party's election commissioners to remove names from the presidential primary ballot if the candidate publicly dropped out of the race or otherwise asked for their name to be removed.

The new law anticipated Sanders' exit: He suspended his campaign April 9, a few days after the budget passed.

Spano and Kellner, both of whom were appointed by Cuomo, said their decision was driven by safety and trying to stem the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 280,000 New York residents and killed more than 17,000.

In Wisconsin, for example, voters were forced to stand in close proximity to one another as they waited to vote in that state's elections earlier this month.

"I thought very long and hard about this and, in fact, I only came to a decision this morning," Spano said during the Democrats' video-conferencing meeting where the vote was taken. 

NY Democratic chair open to giving Bernie delegates

New York had already taken precautions to give voters the option to stay at home for the primary, allowing any eligible voter the ability to cast an absentee ballot.

Polling places will remain open to give people the option of voting in person, however. And a presidential primary would have significantly increased turnout.

Jay Jacobs, the New York Democratic chairman, said he supports the decision to cancel the primary, saying it's in the best interest for the public health. Many poll workers are senior citizens who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, he noted.

It would have been a different story if Sanders were still actively seeking the Democratic nomination, Jacobs said.

"The fact that (Sanders) is not running makes this a nonessential primary," said Jacobs, who — like Kellner and Spano — was appointed by Cuomo. "Given that we've stopped nonessential business in New York and other states, it seemed intelligent to not go forward with a nonessential primary."

Critics, however, said the move disenfranchises voters who wanted to make their voice heard, even if Sanders has no significant chance of catching Biden.

"It is completely wrong for the BOE to cancel New York’s Presidential Primary," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "This decision is not informed by public health: the state is still holding elections for every other seat that day."

Now, New York's delegates will be divvied up by Jacobs and other party leaders who are part of the Democratic State Committee.

Jacobs said he is open to providing a share of delegates to Sanders supporters to ensure their platform is heard.

"I think there is a way to work out some allocation of delegates for the Sanders supporters, and I'm willing to engage in that with the Sanders folks," he said.

Primary Day still moving ahead

New York will still open the polls June 23 for primaries for Congress as well as various state and local races.

Cuomo has cancelled a number of special elections that had been scheduled for the date, including those for Queens borough president, a state Senate seat in central New York and an Assembly seat in the Rochester area.

A special election to fill the seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Chris Collins remains because it is required by state law.

There will not be a Republican presidential primary in New York, either. President Donald Trump was the only Republican to qualify for the ballot in the state. 

Asked Monday about the election commissioners' decision on the Democratic primary, Cuomo said he doesn't want to "second guess" it.

"I know there are a lot of election employees ... who are nervous about conducting elections," said Cuomo, a Biden supporter. "But I'll leave it up to the Board of Elections."

More:Coronavirus in New York: Check our interactive map of cases and deaths by county

Jon Campbell is a New York state government reporter for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com or on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.

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