We hope you and your family are safe and healthy during these calamitous times. Thousands of our fellow New Yorkers - friends, family, neighbors, heroes - have lost their lives to this terrible virus over the last four weeks. We will see the end of this pandemic, but the void created by this mass loss of life will always be with us.
This weekend, our Jewish and Christian friends will be celebrating Passover and Easter, respectively. We know our world is filled with fear and anxiety, but we hope you can find meaning and hope on these holy days.
As Democrats and progressives, there is nothing we hold dearer than the rights inherent to all people. The rights to life and safety are foremost among them, which is why our leaders were right to order an end to all nonessential business activity until it is safe to resume them.
Unfortunately, this has not been the case with ballot petition challenges. Despite a once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis, candidates are still expected to show up to the Board of Elections and respond to even the most trivial and frivolous challenges to their petitions; in turn, BOE workers must show up to the office, putting themselves at risk.
Continuing petition challenges in this environment has deadly consequences. Three BOE workers have died from COVID-19. So has a Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice.
Last week, we led the campaign to end petition challenges by launching a public letter to Kings County Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte and Governor Andrew Cuomo calling on them to show leadership and put an end to this madness.
Since the letter's publication, it has been co-signed by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic Caucus Chair; Congressman Jerry Nadler; Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney; Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; and many other elected officials and Democratic clubs.
Our efforts have received coverage in The Brooklyn Paper, BKReader, and The City. BYD's President and Secretary, Christina Das and Max Roland Davidson, penned an op-ed in the Daily News making the case to suspend petition challenges.
This is a moment of profound sadness and emergency. There is no justification to risk lives unnecessarily. Please circulate our open letter and let your friends and family know what is happening.
Together we can protect our health and our democracy.
In Solidarity, Brooklyn Young Democrats Executive Board
