New York Primary Voters File Emergency Lawsuit After Party Affiliations Changed

Many New York voters claim that their party affiliations have been changed without their consent or knowledge, barring them from voting in their closed primary. Similar reports came in after Arizona’s primary race, but some disenfranchised voters are standing up and doing something about it now by filing an emergency lawsuit to try to reinstate their voting privileges in time for today’s New York primary.

According to Think Progress, the lawsuit is asking for an emergency judgment that would open up New York’s primary to anyone of any party affiliation, as long as they’re registered to vote in general. Election Justice USA filed the lawsuit, according to spokesperson Shyla Nelson.

“This is our attempt to provide a means of recourse for those thousands of New York voters who find themselves in this very frustrating position, and to raise awareness about the need for a new level of accountability in the electoral process.”

The first accusations of New York party affiliations being changed to Independent or no affiliation started last month, as stories started trickling in relation to Reddit user reports that they would not be able to vote because their affiliation was altered or they were dropped from registration altogether in some cases. Some New York voters say they actually mailed in their paperwork on time, but because of delays in processing, they were told they were ineligible.

New York has the earliest deadline in the country for registering your party affiliation to vote in the closed primary, according to New York Daily News, who also spoke with Nelson regarding the voter lawsuit.

“If the primary were open, this would be a non-issue for thousands of registered voters that have had this happen to them. By making the primary open, it eliminates one of the most vexing problems New Yorkers have dealt with in this primary season. It’s a threat to the democratic process.”

A closed primary only allows those who are registered as Democrat or Republicans to vote and only to vote in the primary for their registered party. Anyone without a party affiliation or registered as an Independent is ineligible to vote in a closed primary. The deadline in New York to change your party affiliation before the primary was back in October 2015.

So how many people do these discrepancies affect? Some may not even know they have a problem until they try to vote tomorrow, but as of this month, Think Progress reports that over 3 million people were either registered as Independent or had no affiliation, which accounts for approximately 27 percent of New York registered voters.

New York state Board of Elections spokesperson Thomas Connolly confirmed to Think Progress that he had received numerous complaints but said that all the complaints he’s checked out so far have been changes caused by actions of the voters involved.

It’s no surprise that most of the accusations are coming from those who are supporters of Bernie Sanders, as many previously had no party affiliation or were registered as Independents, like Sanders himself. While Nelson noted that Sanders would likely be the most effective candidate, Election Justice USA does not support any one candidate but was founded after concerns raised in the Arizona primary with voting lines exceeding five or six hours and allegations of party affiliation changes.

“Many of us were watching with some horror at what was happening state by state with voter suppression issues coming up. As we looked ahead, beyond Arizona, we began to hear an increasing number of reports of mysterious voter party affiliation switches happening.”

The organization’s website asked New York voters to tell their stories of voting problems, which are now also cropping up in states like California, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, as well. While they are trying to analyze data to get to the root of why affiliations were changed, Election Justice USA also seeks to shift the burden of proof onto the state election boards, rather than on the voters, according to attorney Blair Fellows, who was part of the team filing the lawsuit.

“The Board of Elections, not voters, holds the voting records and should be responsible to prove a voter’s ineligibility, rather than putting this burden on the voter. As it is currently structured, the statute places an onerous and excessive burden on the voter to prove their eligibility. It requires securing a court order, which takes time that many New Yorkers simply don’t have.”

While New Yorkers have taken action to try to secure the right to vote, anyone living in a state that has a closed primary would be well-advised to check their voter registration status to make sure their party registration is correct, as it will be too late on election day if you’re turned away from the polls.

[Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images]