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On Monday, the New York State Board of Elections made the disgraceful and undemocratic decision to cancel their state’s presidential primary later this year.

This means that our campaign will receive no delegates from New York, weakening our ability to fight for a progressive platform and progressive rules at the Democratic Convention. It also means our voters are less likely to turn out, which will hurt progressive New York candidates who are still facing primaries.

This is an outrage, an assault on democracy and must not be allowed to stand.

While we did not have the votes to win the Democratic nomination, our campaign was suspended, not ended, because we believe that people in every state should have the right to express their preference.

Let's be clear. New York will still be holding a primary election on June 23. Voters will cast ballots for congressional candidates and other down-ballot offices but, because of the heavy-handed decision of two members of the State Board of Elections, they will not have the opportunity to vote in the presidential primary.

No one asked New York to cancel the election.

The DNC did not request it. The Biden campaign did not request it. And our campaign communicated, very strongly, that we wanted to remain on the ballot.

Given that the primary is months away, the proper response should be to make the election safe — such as moving entirely to vote by mail — rather than eliminating people’s right to vote completely.

The truth is that the New York State Democratic Party has never taken a particularly progressive approach toward democratic participation. In fact, quite the opposite. They have a very checkered pattern of voter disenfranchisement. For many years, New York has had one of the lowest rates of voter turnout in the country.

In addition to being a blow to American democracy, New York state's action is also a clear violation of the approved delegate selection plan of the Democratic National Committee.

At a time when all of us, including Joe Biden, are deeply concerned about Donald Trump’s attacks on our democracy, we must fight back against this action in New York state.

If states violate the DNC party rules regarding delegate selection, they can lose their ability to send delegates to the convention. And this is exactly what must be done.

If this outrage is not remedied, the Democratic National Committee must strip New York of all its delegates at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. New York, and every other state in this country, must understand they cannot violate the rules of the DNC with impunity.

While the New York State Democratic Party is trying to take away progressive voices in this election, we are asking you to make yours heard:

Sign our petition: tell DNC Chairman Tom Perez to strip New York state of its convention delegates unless they reinstate the Democratic presidential primary slated to take place later this year.

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Thank you for standing up for democracy and thank you for making your voice heard on this important issue.

All our best,

Team Bernie

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