The NYS Board of Elections announced the cancellation of the New York State presidential primary today, Apr. 27. The State, congressional and other elections will still go ahead on Jun. 23, as planned. Other state presidential primaries have been postponed in recent weeks but not cancelled. The Sanders campaign released a statement the same day as the announcement, describing the decision taken in New York as an “outrage”.

“Today’s decision by the New York State Board of Elections is an outrage, a blow to American democracy, and must be overturned by the DNC,” the statement read. “Just last week, Vice President Biden warned the American people that Donald Trump could use the current crisis as an excuse to postpone the November election. Well, he now has a precedent, thanks to New York State.”

The Sanders campaign added that while they understood Sen. Bernie Sanders did not have the votes to win the Democratic nomination, his campaign had been suspended but not ended. The campaign team said that people in every state should have the right to express their preference. “What the [NYS] Board of Elections is ignoring, is that the primary process not only leads to a nominee, but also the selection of delegates, which helps to determine the platform and rules of the Democratic Party,” the statement read.

It went on to say that no one had asked for the cancellation, not New York, not the DNC and not the Biden campaign. “Our campaign communicated that we wanted to remain on the ballot,” the statement 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.”

And upon cancellation of the presidential primary, NY will become the ONLY STATE where its entire delegation will not have been chosen by a vote of its citizens, but by a small group of party bosses. What a distinction.

— George Albro (@gwalbro) April 25, 2020

The statement ended by saying that New York had violated its approved delegate selection plan. “If this is not remedied, New York should lose all its delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and there should be a broader review by the Democratic Party of New York’s checkered pattern of voter disenfranchisement.”

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz also released a statement further to the announced decision on Apr. 27, in which he confirmed that the NYS Board of Elections’ two Democratic commissioners decided to reduce the workload of local [county] Boards of Elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic by removing all suspended campaigns from the ballot, thus eliminating the need to conduct a New York State Presidential primary in 2020.

I don't get all the uproar over the NY primary cancellation. The race is over. It's not a blueprint for trump to cancel November's election. People need to quit looking for things to be mad about. There's enough already without manufactured outrage.

— VillainousVicissitude (@VillainousVici1) April 27, 2020

“I am sure the decision which functionally eliminates the Presidential primary was not easy to arrive at, and I can appreciate the significance that this decision has on our democracy,” Dinowitz said.  “Many people worked very hard to qualify for the ballot, eleven Presidential candidates and their associated slates of candidates for delegate, and that work absolutely should be affirmed and admired. It will take all of us, regardless of which candidates we preferred early on, to work together and restore sanity and professionalism to the White House.”

It is a travesty that NY's primary has been canceled. How about a USEFUL cancellation – #CancelRent #CancelStudentDebt April 30th is looming…

— Lindsay Shields (@ActingPolitical) April 27, 2020

Dinowitz added that he wholeheartedly supported the decision by Commissioners Kellner and Spano to eliminate the primary, which he said would eliminate the need for many local Boards of Elections to operate on Jun. 23, and would significantly reduce the workload for local boards in all sixty-two counties.

“It would be unconscionable to send thousands of election workers into a pandemic to operate an election that’s result had already been decided when ten of eleven candidates dropped out and endorsed the remaining candidate – Joe Biden,” Dinowitz said.

“Almost one-third of New York State’s counties will now not have to operate an election at all, and remaining counties can now focus on operating the congressional, state, judicial, and party elections that have always been scheduled for June 23,” he added. “We cannot forget that our elections rely on people to function, from poll workers to technicians and administrative staff. These people have families too, and it is the right decision to allow as many of them as possible to stay home.”

"I think keeping the election activity to a minimum in this environment makes sense," @NYCMayor says, appearing to support cancellation of NYS presidential primary. De Blasio is a Sanders supporter. pic.twitter.com/9XDkC32MPN

— Emily Ngo (@emilyngo) April 27, 2020

Dinowitz also said that although the presidential primary campaign is now over, there are still primary elections being held on June 23 to decide candidates for congress, state legislature, judgeships, and party positions, and that he and his colleagues would continue to exchange ideas, some of which he said had now taken on new urgency as millions of workers lose access to employer-based healthcare, and are struggling to pay rent and put food on their tables.

“Whatever the disagreements may be within the Democratic Party, our differences are not nearly as vast as with the Republicans,” he said. “Our leadership does not tell people to inject disinfectant to cure coronavirus, our leadership does not tell states to declare bankruptcy to avoid paying people their hard-earned pensions, and our leadership does not put millions of lives at risk just so that the richest among us can get even richer.”

Reaction to the announcement on social media was mixed, with one Twitter user calling the decision a “travesty”, while another said they didn’t get all the “uproar” over the cancellation.

As reported by Norwood News on Apr. 25, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had issued an executive order on Friday, Apr. 24 mandating that all New Yorkers receive an absentee vote application in advance of the upcoming June election day.

One Twitter user was concerned that the cancellation of the presidential primary would lower voter turn-out for remaining electoral candidates, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has garnered national recognition since her election to Congress in 2018. Ocasio-Cortez is a staunch supporter of Sanders and a member of the so-called “Squad”, an informal group of Democrats who represent the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

In light of the cancellation of the #NYPrimary join me in donating to the NY candidates who'll face difficulty due to reduced turnout in their primaries@AOC @VoteAshcraft @SenGianaris @rontkim @jessicaramos @NYSenatorRivera @JuliaCarmel__ @JSandersNYC @LuisSepulvedaNY @PhilSteck

— Alex Kithes 🌅, Woonsocket City Councilor (@alexkithes) April 27, 2020

The congresswoman, who represents areas in both the Bronx and Queens, reacted to the decision on Twitter, denouncing the move. “It is completely wrong for the BOE to cancel New York’s Presidential Primary,” she said. “This decision is not informed by public health: the state is still holding elections for every other seat that day, & so far, the only way your ballot will 100% be counted in NY is to vote in. person!”

Sanders launched his 2020 presidential campaign on Mar. 2, 2019 in front of thousands of excited supporters at Brooklyn Community College, and his subsequent rallies in New York City drew huge crowds. At one point, the senator was accompanied by Ocasio-Cortez on a short walkabout of the South Bronx, some weeks after he had been discharged from hospital following a heart attack.

It is completely wrong for the BOE to cancel New York’s Presidential Primary.

This decision is not informed by public health: the state is still holding elections for every other seat that day, & so far the only way your ballot will 100% be counted in NY is to vote in person! https://t.co/l8iT7mxm9c

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 27, 2020

Meanwhile, New York Mayor, Bill de Blasio, agreed with the cancellation decision, despite having supported Sanders as a candidate. “I think keeping the election activity to a minimum in this environment makes sense,” he said.

Since the announcement of the cancellation of New York State’s presidential primary election, The Hill reported on Apr. 30 that the Sanders and Biden campaigns have since reached a deal on how delegates will be counted at the forthcoming Democratic National Convention.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.