12 APRIL 30, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
MTA must stay rolling in virus crisis
Through a series of bad decisions
and unforced errors, the state
Board of Elections and Governor
Andrew Cuomo have turned the June
23 primary into an utter farce.
The primary, of course, is still on,
coronavirus be damned. There will
be party primary races for statewide
and Congressional seats. You don’t
even have to leave your house to vote;
you will be able to request an absentee
ballot.
That’s the good news about the contest.
Everything else about it is an absolute
mess.
Let’s start with the cancellation of the
Democratic presidential primary. Yes,
the race eff ectively ended back on April
8 when Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
dropped out of the running, leaving
former Vice President Joe Biden the last
candidate standing — and the party’s
presumptive nominee.
The coronavirus pandemic forced
the state to fi rst delay the primary from
April 28 to June 23. Aft er Sanders suspended
his campaign, the primary was
seen by some — including, apparently
the state Board of Elections — as a moot
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All voters should vote via an absentee ballot for the June primaries. Photo via Getty Images
point. That led to the board’s decision
But that wasn’t the only June 23 contest
on April 27 to cancel the Democratic
thrown into chaos.
presidential primary altogether.
Cuomo canceled special elections for
That riled up Sanders supporters at
Queens borough president and several
a time when Biden’s still trying to get
other city and state legislative vacancies
their support. This decision throws a bit
which were initially scheduled for
of a monkey wrench into the Democrats’
March 24 but ultimately delayed due
cause long-term, as it fuels the belief
to COVID-19. The parties will hold primaries
among many Sanders supporters that
for these seats instead on June
“the machine” is out to squash them.
23, with the winners advancing to the
Talk about bad optics for a party
November election.
desperate to defeat Donald Trump in
But by then, some of these vacant
November.
legislative seats will have been
empty for nearly a year before voters
choose the people to represent them
in government.
The pandemic in New York state is
the very defi nition of the term snafu,
an infamous military acronym meaning
“Situation Normal: All Fouled Up.”
The June 23 primary is a snafu
within the snafu — and one that
could’ve been completely avoided
had the Board of Elections and Cuomo
thought more of the voters and less
about politics.
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