 In response to the New York State Board of Elections effectively canceling the 2020 Democratic Party primary, Andrew Yang is taking what I think is really bold action that's important because this could make a difference. He's choosing to file a lawsuit against them because, you know, as Bernie Sanders supporters, it's easy to focus on the fact that Bernie was removed from the ballot. But keep in mind, this removes everyone who was supposed to be on the ballot. That includes other candidates who had previously run but dropped out. Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, the supporters of other candidates are also being disenfranchised here. And Joe Biden will be the only name on the ballot at the top of the ticket, so legally speaking Andrew Yang is trying to make a case as to why this actually disenfranchises voters. And on top of that, you know, putting aside the legal argument, it's just plain wrong. So Zach Montalero of Politico reports, Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, is suing the New York State Board of Elections in federal court after the State Election Commission effectively canceled the Democratic presidential primary there. Yang, along with seven New Yorkers who filed to serve as Yang delegates to the Democratic National Convention, filed suit on Monday arguing that they should not be removed because they had otherwise met the requirements to be on the ballot. The decision to remove Yang, quote, denies voters due process and denies voters the right to vote and therefore must be invalidated removing the authority for the defendant to take the actions complained of herein, reads the lawsuit which was shared with Politico. The lawsuit notes that neither Yang nor the delegate candidates asked to be removed from the ballot. The New York State Board of Elections effectively canceled the presidential primary on Monday when the two Democratic commissioners voted to strip every candidate except former Vice President Joe Biden off the ballot because they were no longer actively seeking the presidency. The move infuriated supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders in particular. Sanders, like Yang, has also suspended his campaign but publicly said he wished to remain on the ballot for the remaining primaries so he could continue to be awarded delegates to sway the National Convention. The suit filed by Yang also argued that axing the Democratic presidential primary would hurt down ballot candidates. The lawsuit argued that canceling the presidential primary would be suppressing voter turnout as voters will have less incentive to vote if they cannot cast a ballot for the highest office in the land and thereby negatively impact challenger candidates such as Jonathan Herzog who is running a long shot primary bid against Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler in New York's 10th district. Herzog is also a party to the lawsuit. So I applaud Andrew Yang for doing this. This is absolutely the correct move and I really hope that Bernie Sanders as well as every other candidate whose name was removed from the ballot joins this lawsuit because this isn't right. Like you can't keep doing things like this, disenfranchising your own base and getting away with it. And look, let me remind you back in 2018 after AOC defeated Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary. Well, he remained on the ballot under the umbrella of the Working Families Party and they didn't opt to remove him, right? So it's not like they're procedurally driven and care about the rules. This is just a middle finger to the supporters of other candidates. They want you to fall in line and support Joe Biden because he's the presumptive nominee. So why would you vote for someone else that you previously supported? But that's wrong. I mean, think about this, especially candidates like Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders. They brought new voters into the Democratic Party. People who otherwise wouldn't have been interested in the Democratic Party. And as a welcome to all of these new voters that individuals like Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders brought in, this is how the Democratic Party welcomes them by slapping them in the face. And what's frustrating I've got to imagine for people like Andrew Yang is that he's played by their rules. He pledged loyalty to them. He endorsed Joe Biden and got ripped for it by a lot of his own support base. So he's done what was needed from him, what they expected him to do. And they still slap him in the face. They do the same to Bernie Sanders. He endorsed Joe Biden. He is going to be campaigning for Joe Biden, I assume if this COVID pandemic ends. And they still do this. Like there's nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing this. Because you're not winning over any new voters. You're not improving Joe Biden's chances at all. It's just plain cruel. They're disenfranchising their own base and they don't even care. So this lawsuit is incredibly important. I will be following it closely. And I commend Andrew Yang again and everyone who's joining this lawsuit. And if you are running in the state of New York, not just as a former presidential candidate but as a down ticket Democrat, a progressive challenging the machine, I would advise you to try to get in on this lawsuit because this really is unacceptable. They are stripping away due process from voters. Why shouldn't people be allowed to let their voices be heard? This is still a primary regardless if people suspend their campaigns or not. They're still on the ballot or they were on the ballot. So why not allow the supporters who were enthusiastic enough to still support him and support the Democratic Party as a result? Why not just give them their voice if it doesn't matter to you, if it doesn't affect your power? Well, because they can't help themselves. They can't help themselves. They've got to control every little aspect about democracy because they don't care about democracy. This is the undemocratic party and whatever they complain about voter suppression that happens when the Republicans introduce these draconian voter ID laws that disproportionately target people of color, just remind Democrats, they do the same thing. They do the same exact thing, albeit to their own base. Like Republicans, they do it to the base of their opponents. Democrats do this to themselves. They disenfranchise their own base, suppress turnout for themselves, and then they wonder why they lose elections. This is why, because you don't respect your base. Not only do you just not respect them and not care about them, you go out of your way to spit in their faces at every step of the process when we see these elections. So kudos to Andrew Yang. I hope he wins this lawsuit. And I hope that there's some penalty for the Democratic Party's state board of elections because this is just unacceptable. But if I've learned anything from the Democratic Party and our justice system, it's that justice is very rarely served. So I mean, I wouldn't expect much to come of this, but I'm still hopeful and I will be following this because I think this is the right thing to do. And I hope Bernie Sanders actually plays hardball and joins this suit. Andrew Yang shouldn't be in this alone. The other candidates have got to have his back here because it's the ethical thing to do and it's the right thing to do for voters.