Andrew Yang Sues New York for Canceling Democratic Primary

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and a group of candidates seeking to represent him at the party’s national convention sued New York for canceling its presidential primary, saying the move tramples on the voting rights of millions of the state’s residents.

New York said on Monday it wouldn’t hold the June 23 Democratic presidential primary because none of the races on the ballot are contested, having earlier postponed the election from April. Yang and the others asked a federal judge Tuesday to block the state from canceling the election and to reinstate the vote.

New York was the first to cancel a Democratic primary, although more than a dozen postponed their elections or moved to mail-in voting due to the pandemic. Democratic candidate Joe Biden has effectively sewn up the presidential nomination as the last of his rivals, Bernie Sanders, suspended his campaign earlier this month.

Like Sanders, Yang didn’t ask for his name to be taken off the ballot when he dropped out, hoping to collect votes that would entitle him to delegates at the convention, where he could use their clout to sway party policy.

Andrew Yang

Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg

Canceling the vote “will cause candidates like Yang and the plaintiff delegates to lose influence at the party’s convention,” they said in the lawsuit. Yang dropped out of the race in February.

Among those who sued is Jonathan Herzog, a candidate for Congress. Herzog is a former Yang staffer who has endorsed the former presidential candidate’s idea for $1,000 a month in universal basic income. He’s challenging New York Congressman Jerry Nadler for his seat.

The cancellation will trample on the voting rights of more than 6 million New Yorkers, suppress turnout in other races for candidates like Herzog and could create a roadmap for President Donald Trump to cancel the presidential election in November, the plaintiffs said.

“The current president can make the same argument as the defendant, namely, that it is too dangerous to vote as no one can accurately predict when it will be 100% safe, if ever again in the future of humanity, to leave one’s house, or touch an object, such as an election ballot, that could be contaminated with the Covid-19 virus,” Yang and the others argued in the suit.

New York sends 320 delegates to the Democratic nominating convention.

The case is Yang v. New York State Board of Elections, 20-cv-3325, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Dolmetsch in Federal Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net

Joe Schneider, Peter Jeffrey

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