Keep the new york primary fair

Douglas A. Kellner; Co-Chair, New York State Board of Elections

Andrew J. Spano; Democratic Commissioner New York State Board of Elections

Robert Brehm; Co-Executive Director

April 27, 2020

Dear Commissioners and staff,

We understand that you are considering removing all candidates from the New York primary ballot except Vice President Biden, because he is the only candidate officially still in the race. We urge you to keep all the candidates on the ballot that are currently there, including Senator Sanders - who has officially protested his removal from the ballot. 

Public trust in elections is already depressingly low. This article from The Hill talks about a "crisis of confidence" in US elections. The US has the lowest electoral integrity ranking of any long-established democracy - with a score of 61 - the same as Panama's. Closer to home, there were large discrepancies between  exit polls and actual results in the democratic primaries in state  after state, which further deteriorates trust. In states with strong  Sanders support like California and Texas lines were up to 7 hours long. And the hashtag #DemExit has been trending. 

The  last thing that our democracy needs right now is further examples of  how the Democratic party isn't really democratic and doesn't provide  voters with any meaningful opportunity to express their choice. 

We strongly urge you to give voters the right to vote for the candidate of their choice in the upcoming primary, by keeping all candidates on the ballot. Removing candidates based on an obscure new law, that very few New Yorkers were even aware of is a terrible choice for this primary, and sets a bad precedent for future elections. 

Sincerely, 

SMART Elections

Elevating Election Reform to an Urgent National Priority

Lulu Friesdat, Co-Founder