A federal judge ruled that New York must go forward with its presidential primary after the state’s board of elections voted to cancel it amid coronavirus fears.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres of Manhattan made the ruling Tuesday evening to hold the primary in June, NBC News reported. The New York State Board of Elections decided in late April to strip Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ name from the ballot after he dropped out, effectively canceling the primary and making former Vice President Joe Biden the winner.
Torres ruled in favor of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who filed a lawsuit against the election board in late April when the board canceled the primary after it had been postponed to June 23. (RELATED: New York Outright Cancels Presidential Primary Despite Objections From Sanders Campaign)
“This unprecedented and unwarranted move infringes the rights of Plaintiffs and all New York State Democratic Party voters, of which there are estimated to be more than six million, as it fundamentally denies them the right to choose our next candidate for the office of President of the United States,” the lawsuit read according to CBS News.
BREAKING: The Democratic primary is back on in New York State for June 23, as a federal judge reinstates the contest following a lawsuit by @AndrewYang.
Background, @CourthouseNews: https://t.co/MydVP6yeoO pic.twitter.com/LgL6YjxJcU
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) May 5, 2020
Torres granted a preliminary injunction ordering the board to reinstate suspended candidates to the Democratic primary ballot.
“The Court concludes that Plaintiffs and Plaintiff-Intervenors have shown a clear and substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the Democratic Commissioners’ April 27 Resolution removing Yang, Sanders, and eight other Democratic presidential candidates from the ballot deprived them of associational rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution,” the ruling read.
All 10 presidential candidates named in the April 27 Resolution and their respective slates of delegate candidates will be restored to the June 23 ballot.
Those candidates include: Yang, Sanders, Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democratic Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tusli Gabbard, businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and businessman Tom Steyer.
My statement on today’s federal ruling reinstating New York’s Democratic presidential primary: pic.twitter.com/htrUJlTKP8
— Andrew Yang???????????? (@AndrewYang) May 6, 2020
“I’m glad that a federal judge agreed that depriving millions of New Yorkers of the right to vote was wrong,” Yang wrote in a Twitter post Tuesday. “I hope that the New York Board of Elections takes from this ruling a newfound appreciation of their role in safeguarding our democracy.”