14 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 30, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
June primary turns into a total snafu
Th rough a series of bad decisions
THE QUEENS
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
CO-PUBLISHER
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ART DIRECTOR
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
STAFF REPORTERS
CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS
PRODUCTION MANAGER
INSIDE SALES MANAGER
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ZACHARY GEWELB
NIRMAL SINGH
JACOB KAYE
ANGELICA ACEVEDO, JENNA BAGCAL, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, MAX PARROTT, BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
Schneps Media, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com
Entire Contents Copyright 2017 by The Queens Courier
All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should
include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating
special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION.
No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The
publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error.
Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed
unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content or reply to any
ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE QUEENS COURIER
and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed
by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement.
Story: On next COVID-19 front line, New York
nurse tends to discharged patients at home
Summary: Nurse Flora Ajayi, 47, works alone on
the next front line of the coronavirus pandemic.
She is part of a network of New York home care
nurses treating hundreds of patients who have
been discharged from hospitals and sent home
to recover from the respiratory disease caused
by the novel coronavirus.
Reach: 5,231 (as of 4/28/20)
and unforced errors, the
state Board of Elections and
Governor Andrew Cuomo have
turned the June 23 primary into
an utter farce.
Th e primary, of course, is still
on, coronavirus be damned.
Th ere 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.
Th at’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.
Th e 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 point. Th at led to the
board’s decision on April 27 to
cancel the Democratic presidential
primary altogether.
Th at riled up Sanders supporters
at a time when Biden’s still
trying to get their support. Th is
decision throws a bit of a monkey
wrench into the Democrats’
cause long-term, as it fuels the
belief among many Sanders supporters
that “the machine” is out
to squash them.
Talk about bad optics for a
party desperate to defeat Donald
Trump in November.
But that wasn’t the only June
23 contest thrown into chaos.
Cuomo canceled special elections
for Queens borough president
and several other city and
state legislative vacancies which
were initially scheduled for
March 24 but ultimately delayed
due to COVID-19. Th e parties
will hold primaries for these
seats instead on June 23, with
the winners advancing to the
November election.
But by then, some of these
vacant legislative seats will have
been empty for nearly a year
before voters choose the people
to represent them in government.
Th e pandemic in New York
state is the very defi nition of the
term snafu, an infamous military
acronym meaning “Situation
Normal: All Fouled Up.”
Th e 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.
Photo via Getty Images
All voters should vote via an absentee ballot for the June primaries.
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
/www.qns.com
/www.qns.com
link
link
