New York Democratic Primary WILL happen on June 23 after judge reinstates vote initially canceled over coronavirus
A FEDERAL judge reinstated the New York Democratic primary on June 23 in the wake of Andrew Yang's lawsuit, which alleged that election officials favored Joe Biden.
The news emerged on Twitter via a reporter who confirmed that a US District Judge made a decision on 's class action suit.
Yang - the former who dropped out of the race back in February - sued the state for removing his name and the names of his delegates from the ballot.
His legal team argued that by canceling the already delayed primary, the Board of Elections violated the First and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
The Board of Elections employed 's state budget law provision to leave out all names from the ballot bar 's.
This allows them to remove the name of any candidates who are out of the running for a particular position.
But Yang claimed his 274 pledged delegates were stripped of the opportunity to represent him at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in August - which was pushed forward from July - if the primary was suspended.
Court documents show his complaint described the initial decision to cancel it as "an ill-conceived political decision" rather than a cautionary move in light of the COVID-19 crisis, citing the mail-in voting option.
The state said on Monday that holding the primary next month would endanger New Yorkers during the coronavirus pandemic, reports .
"The state will be required to deploy thousands of election workers who will be interacting with numerous members of the public in the midst of what is still an unprecedented public health crisis in the nationwide epicenter of that crisis,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Conrad said.
“They’re very simply demanding that the lives of New Yorkers be put at risk for the stake of an uncontested election.”
But Judge Analisa Torres ruled in Yang's favor, court documents show.
"Protecting the public from the spread of COVID-19 is an important state interest," the document read.
"But the Court is not convinced that canceling the presidential primary would meaningfully advance that interest."
The judge highlighted that Cuomo had already issued executive orders enabling New Yorkers to request an absentee ballot and allowing mail-in voting.
The ruling said this would prompt many residents to mail in their ballot and allow for increased social distancing at voting sites.
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It also noted that the Empire State was the only one to cancel their primary and that "barring plaintiffs from participating in an election for party delegates will sharply curtail their associational rights."
On March 28 - four weeks after the first in-state case was confirmed - the governor ruled the primary should be moved forward from April to June in a bid to stop the spread.
Cuomo signed the Senate bill into law on April 3, which included the amendment to omit names if they were no longer seeking the nomination for a particular office; if they were terminating their campaign; or no longer wanted to be on the ballot.