Federal judge rules cancelation of New York presidential primary is unconstitutional

A federal judge in New York has ruled against the state’s Board of Elections' decision last month to scrap the Democratic primary election for president.

The judge, Analisa Torres of the Manhattan Federal Court, on Tuesday ordered New York to reinstate the Democratic candidates on the ballot who were “duly qualified” to be there as of April 26. According to her ruling, the board's initial attempt to cancel the election was unconstitutional.

Judge Torres’s preliminary injunction requires New York to hold the presidential primary on June 23. Already, New Yorkers plan to vote on that date in congressional and state-level primaries.

At the time of the cancelation, election board co-chairman Douglas Kellner said about the struggling Bernie Sanders presidential campaign: "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.”

Board Commissioner Andrew Spano cited health concerns surrounding the pandemic as the reason for the cancelation.

Having "anyone on the ballot just for the purpose of issues at the convention,” was not worth risking the potential resulting spread of the coronavirus that would ensue if New Yorkers showed up in-person to vote, he said.

Torres’s ruling puts, among others, Sanders and Andrew Yang back on the ballot. Yang, who like Sanders has dropped his White House bid, sued the New York Election Board over its initial decision to cancel the primary.

“I’m glad that a federal judge agreed that depriving millions of New Yorkers of the right to vote was wrong. I hope that the New York Board of Elections takes from this ruling a newfound appreciation of their role in safeguarding our democracy,” Yang said of the judge’s decision.

Sanders’s former campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, also weighed in on the decision.

“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,” he said.

Prior to the election’s cancelation, a lawyer for the Sanders campaign sent a letter to the election board asking members  not to cancel the primary. The campaign’s goal was to continue collecting delegates in the hopes of exerting Progressive influence over the Biden campaign and the party agenda at the convention this summer.

Much of Biden’s plan for active campaigning has been uprooted because of the pandemic, though he had rolled out several high-profile endorsements in the past weeks. He also faces an ongoing onslaught of questions pertaining to former Senate aide Tara Reade’s accusation that Biden sexually assaulted her while she was a member of his staff in 1993.

All of this, in addition to inconsistent debate and speaking performances, has left some wondering whether Biden, the presumptive nominee, can win the nomination at the convention. It is unclear who else would assume the role, but reinstating the New York presidential primary brings the Democratic party a step closer to the possibility of an alternative choice.