‘A Blow to American Democracy’: Bernie Sanders Campaign Blasts New York Election Officials for Cancelling Primary

Bernie Sanders has, of course, dropped out of the 2020 presidential race and Joe Biden is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. But Sanders also indicated he intends to stay on the ballot in all upcoming states and continue to gather delegates to influence the party platform at the convention.

On Monday the New York State Board of Elections decided to cancel the Democratic presidential primary, citing the coronavirus pandemic:

The board’s Democratic co-chairman, Douglas A. Kellner, said he had read thousands of emails from Sanders supporters urging the board to go forward before making his decision to vote against holding the primary, but ultimately decided that it was time to acknowledge that the primary served no significant purpose.

“What the Sanders campaign wanted is essentially a beauty contest that, given the situation with the public health emergency, seems to be unnecessary and, indeed, frivolous,” Mr. Kellner said.

The Sanders campaign sent out a statement, from senior advisor Jeff Weaver, saying the state board’s decision “is an outrage, a blow to American democracy, and must be overturned by the DNC.”

“Just last week Vice President Biden warned the American people that President Trump could use the current crisis as an excuse to postpone the November election,” the statement continues. “Well, he now has a precedent thanks to New York state.”

Our campaign statement on the New York State Board of Elections decision to cancel the state’s presidential primary: pic.twitter.com/BzylNaqCaS

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 27, 2020