Irregularities in New York primary robbed some of right to vote, say Sanders supporters and officials

The New York primary results are still being tallied, but Trump has won the GOP vote, and Hillary Clinton is emerging as the Democratic party winner. Widespread reports of voting irregularities have Bernie Sanders’ campaign and some elected officials calling the state’s primary voting system “a disgrace.” New York City officials were quick to blame the city Board of Elections for stripping more than 125,000 Democratic voters from the rolls.

“It is absurd that in Brooklyn, New York — where I was born, actually — tens of thousands of people as I understand it, have been purged from the voting rolls,” said Sanders during an evening campaign rally at Penn State University. Sanders spokesman Karthik Ganapathy called the state’s handling of the primary a “shameful demonstration,” in an email to a CNN reporter.

“The Fire Is Ours” [Makana]

“From long lines and dramatic understaffing to longtime voters being forced to cast affidavit ballots and thousands of registered New Yorkers being dropped from the rolls, what’s happening today is a disgrace,” Bernie Sanders campaign rep Ganapathy told CNN.

Election Justice USA, a voter rights organization, told CNN it will go to Federal District Court in Brooklyn on Wednesday morning as part of an effort to have provisional ballots from voters disenfranchised by the Board of Elections counted before the primary results are certified.

Earlier in the day, a federal judge denied a temporary restraining order filed by the group that would have opened the polls to New York Democrats claiming they were unlawfully listed as Republican or unaffiliated.
A little before the polls here closed at 9 p.m., the polling site coordinator at Brooklyn Borough Hall estimated that about 10% of those who showed up to vote on Tuesday were previously removed by the board of elections. More than 2,800 people had voted at the location.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Hillary Clinton supporter, called for major reforms to the Board of Elections as a series of snafus continued to bubble up, including reports of the errant “purge” in Brooklyn.

“Sanders campaign, New York officials cry foul after New York voters report issues” [CNN]

Says The New York Times editorial board to candidates Sanders and Kasich: Don’t Stop Believin’.