Bernie Sanders Dropped From D.C. Ballot Due To Democratic Party ‘Error’
First came allegations from Bernie Sanders’ supporters of election day violations by the Clintons in the New Hampshire primary, when Bill Clinton entered a polling place on election day, and also prevented at least one polling place from opening for hours due to security needs. Then there was the Arizona voting fiasco in their primary, where not only were the people who got to vote waiting in lines for four to six hours or more in Maricopa County, but many Independent and Democratic voters said their party affiliation had been changed so they could not vote in that closed primary.
The majority of those whose registration was changed were Bernie Sanders supporters, according to posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. Now the latest voting controversy is the D.C. Democratic primary, where due to a Democratic Party “error,” Bernie Sanders will be left off the D.C. primary ballot as things currently stand.
Can anyone recall this happening in the past?
@randomduck @tomsherwood It sounds like neither Bernie’s or Hillary’s registration was turned in on time, but Bernie’s was contested.
— DC (@dcarrillo28) March 30, 2016
— Tom Sherwood (@tomsherwood) March 30, 2016
So what was the Democratic Party’s response to this latest problem? According to NBC Washington, D.C. party officials are referring to Sanders being left off the ballot as a “minor administrative dispute.”
Politico reports that one way to resolve the issue of Bernie Sanders’ name missing from the ballot would be if the D.C. City Council holds a special emergency vote, according to Anita Bonds, the chairwoman of the D. C. Democratic Party. The Sanders campaign’s communication director, Michael Briggs, made a statement that they believe this problem will be resolved.
“We did what the D.C. law requires in order to get Bernie on the ballot and we are confident he will be on the ballot.”
The DNC is already facing increasing anger among Bernie Sanders supporters that the chair of the organization, Debbie Wasserman Schultz — who was part of the staff for Clinton’s 2008 campaign — has been doing everything in her power to game the system to make Hillary Clinton the Democratic nominee. Compounding the frustration and anger in the party are allegations that the initial abbreviated debate schedule was designed to favor Clinton and keep Sanders as a relative unknown, plus many reports of voting irregularities in different states such as precincts running out of ballots and most recently, the Arizona primary which has incited demands for a re-vote. Even Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan has admitted that there was voter fraud in Arizona, according to a Fox News video.
While many media outlets have been talking about the split in the Republican Party between evangelical conservatives, the GOP establishment, and Donald Trump, the Democratic Party is on the verge of shattering as well, as many Bernie Sanders supporters say they will not support Hillary Clinton if she wins the nomination. While many of those have been taking that ideological stand against Clinton from the beginning — viewing Clinton as an establishment candidate that has been bought by big money interests — the continuing voting problems in many Democratic primaries are inciting allegations of voter suppression and fraud, and adding fuel to the fire.
@People4Bernie @BernieSanders @nbcwashington More David Brock & DNC dirty tricks. Bernie will prevail & maybe someone will go to jail.
— Skip Hatos (@SkipHatos) March 30, 2016
Last week, there were also reports that New York primary voters are facing the same kind of party affiliation errors that voters in Arizona faced, and in response to those stories in New York, a few people from California were chiming in to say that their party affiliations have been changed. Both New York and California have closed primaries, where you can only vote if you are a registered Democrat or Republican, and voters registered as Independents are excluded.
[Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images]
