According to the Albany Times-Union, the board of elections co-chair Doug Kellner said they are very disappointed that the judge had placed an uncontested contest for president above the health and safety of the voting public and the poll workers who would have to administer that election.

The board’s Democratic commissioners had called off the primary late last month after removing all candidates from the ballot except former Vice President Joe Biden. They cited the suspension of all other presidential campaigns, as well as safety concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that canceling the contest would significantly reduce large crowds at the polls.

But a federal judge in Manhattan ruled late Tuesday that New York must hold the primary on June 23, contending that canceling it would be unconstitutional and take away the ability of the candidates to receive delegates for the party’s convention in August.

The decision came after a lawsuit was brought forward on behalf of former presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang, who argued that it was illegal for New York to cancel the primary.

But while it will still be a couple of months before New York State holds the Democratic presidential primary, the deadline for anyone wishing to join the party is fast approaching.

According to the Chautauqua County Board of Elections, in order to be eligible to vote in the April 28 New York State Democratic Presidential Primary, anyone already registered to vote who is not already registered as a Democrat has until the end of the day on Friday, Feb. 14 to do so.

Election officials say all party changes must be received at the County Board of Elections – 7 N. Erie St. Mayville NY 14757 – by that date to be considered timely.

The 2020 Presidential Primary will be 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 28, with early voting April 18-26 at the Chautauqua Mall, County Fairgrounds or at the Mayville elections office.

State and local primaries – including any primary for congressional candidates – will be on June 23.

For more information, visit VoteChautauqua.com or call 716.753.4580.

Chautauqua County Democratic Election Commissioner and County Democratic Committee Chairman Norman Green

MAYVILLE – Primary Day 2016 was a success in Chautauqua County.

That’s the assessment from Chautauqua County Democratic Board of Election Commissioner Norman Green, who spoke with WRFA on Wednesday to provide a recap of Tuesday’s vote.

• LISTEN TO COMPLETE WRFA INTERVIEW WITH NORM GREEN

“We thought it was one of the more excellent primary elections,” Green said. “Poll sites all were running efficiently. As far as voting machines, they were working well and doing what they needed to do, so we were pretty happy.”

Green said that because both the Republicans and Democrats had contested races, it meant that more voters from both parties were coming out to vote in the primary.

New York runs a closed primary system and across the state there were reports of voters being told they were not registered with either of the two political parties. Those who were not listed as a Republican or a Democrat but felt that they should have been should have been given the opportunity to vote through an affidavit ballot. Green said that’s what local poll workers were also instructed to do here in Chautauqua County.

“We have hundreds of affidavit ballots to review,” Green said. “Our position is everybody should have the right to cast a ballot and no one should be turned away from the polls. So everyone who came in either had the right to vote on the machines, in which case the vote was counted on primary night, or they had the chance to vote on a provisional ballot – an affidavit – and that’s in an envelope and if its determined that they were actually a member of that political party, we’ll count that ballot.”

Green said that all affidavit ballots and absentee ballots will be opened next Tuesday and counted. He said that in Chautauqua County, any voter who filed an affidavit ballot will be informed on whether or not the ballot was accepted and added to the final vote tally. If an affidavit ballot is not accepted by the board of elections, a voter does have the option to contest that decision in court.

The unofficial primary night total in the Democratic Presidential Primary for Chautauqua County was 4,127 for Bernie Sanders and 3,516 for Hillary Clinton.

On the GOP side, Donald Trump picked up the most votes with 4,722, while John Kasich came in second with 2,130 and Ted Cruz came in third with 1,865.

Across the state, Trump was also the winner for the GOP while Clinton was the winner for the Democrats. As a result, Trump will receive 89 delegates while Kasich will receive 4. On the Democratic side, Clinton picked up 139 designated delegates while Sanders received 106.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Tuesday ordered an audit of the city’s election authorities, citing “deep concern over widespread reports of poll site problems and irregularities” as voters cast their ballots in the state’s primary election. Stringer said that reports have indicated that people were inexplicably purged from the polls, told to vote at the wrong location or unable to get into their polling site. Stringer’s office had also received reports of polling stations that failed to open on time and were unable to tell voters when they would be operational.

In a letter to the New York City Board of Elections, the comptroller cited reports that polling staff were unable to operate voting machines, were giving out conflicting information and erroneously directing voters to alternate sites.

Of particular concern, Stringer said, were allegations of widespread removal of eligible voters from registration rolls and incorrect party affiliations on voter records. Stringer said eligible Democratic voters in Brooklyn fell by 120,000 from November 2015 to April 2016 without explanation.

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Wednesday said his office has also opened an investigation into the impropriety that may have taken place in New York City on Primary Day.

Hillary Clinton (left) and Donald Trump are the front-runners for their respective parties in the 2016 race for president.

It was a big night for both Hillary Clinton and Donald trump in New York State.

The respective Democratic and Republican presidential front runners picked up the majority of votes in the New York presidential primary on Tuesday. As a result they will also receive a good portion of party delegates that come with the victory.

Clinton, the former first lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State, emerged from New York’s presidential primary closer to clinching the Democratic nomination and becoming the first woman to reach that milestone. Following her win in New York, a jubilant Clinton made clear she was moving past her unexpectedly competitive primary battle with Bernie Sanders and setting her sights on the general election. Of the 247 Democratic delegates at stake in New York, Clinton picked up at least 135 while Sanders gained at least 104.

Trump is also eager to move past the Republican primaries. With at least 89 of New York’s 95 delegates in hand, he insisted it was “impossible” for any of his rivals to catch him and warned party leaders against trying to take the nomination away from him at the convention.

The front-runners now hope to replicate their strong showings in New York in the cluster of Northeastern states next up on the primary calendar.

Clinton was scheduled to spend Wednesday campaigning in Pennsylvania, while Trump had a rally planned in Maryland, as well as Indiana.

SANDERS WINS CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, 23rd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Locally in Chautauqua County – Sanders brought in more democratic votes than Clinton. Sanders received an unofficial count of 4081, not including absentees or affidavit ballots. Clinton, meanwhile, received 3483. That’s significantly less than the 6597 she received from Chautauqua County Democrats in the 2008 Primary, the last time she ran for president.

On the Republican side, Donald trump was the big winner in Chautauqua County, receiving 4648 votes from Republicans. Coming in second was Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 2098. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz came in third with 1838.

Delegates are distributed by congressional district and  Sanders was the winner of the 23^rd congressional district, picking up 57.5 percent of the vote. Sanders had a total of 27,831 across the 23^rd while Clinton received 20,573.  On the GOP side, Trump picked up 30,129, Kasich had a total of 15,169 and Cruz finished with 12,200.

WRFA has learned that some voters who had thought they were registered for a particular party are being told that they are not in fact on the state party registry. Many of these instances are being reported in New York City, although there are also instances being reported here in Chautauqua County on social media like facebook.

Chautauqua County Board of Elections Democratic Party Commissioner Norman Green says his office has received a few hundred phone calls in the past couple days from voters announcing frustration over not being able to vote in the primary. However, he said that after some research, it’s been found that the vast majority of those voters never actually registered with a party, or they changed party-affiliation after the Oct. 9, deadline – making them ineligible to vote for Tuesday’s primary. He did add, however, that there is one instance with a local resident who was correct in saying they had a right to vote in the primary, despite records showing otherwise.

Green also reminds all voters that they have a right to contest being refused to vote by filling out an affidavit ballot, which is provided all poling locations.

Also, residents may also call the State Board of Elections at (518) 474-6336 to contest not appearing on a party’s registry. Voters can even obtain a court order to vote. Every county in the state has a sitting judge on Election Day during polling hours. Ask your polling place or call the BOE to find out where the relevant court is.

Registered Republicans across New York will choose between three presidential candidates: businessman Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.  Dr. Ben Carson’s name will also appear on the ballot even though he has withdrawn from the race. Trump is favored to win a significant number of delegates in today’s race, but both Cruz and Kasich are also hoping to secure delegates as well to continue the effort of forcing a contested GOP Convention in July.

Meanwhile, Democrats will choose between two presidential candidates: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Clinton has been the front-runner for the party the entire election season, but Sanders – originally from Brooklyn – has gained ground during the past month and is hoping to pull off a huge upset in his native state.

Voting in New York State to determine delegates to the national conventions is conducted by congressional district.

LARGE TURNOUT EXPECTED FOR CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY

Hillary Clinton (left) and Donald Trump are the front-runners for their respective parties in the 2016 race for president.

Locally, a total of 25,659 Democrats and 24,934 Republicans are eligible to cast ballots in today in Chautauqua County. That’s according to Chautauqua County Election Commissioners Norman Green and Brian Abram, who remind registered party members that polls are open Noon to 9 p.m.

All county poll sites will be open.

Anyone who wants more information on where to vote and voter affiliation should visit www.votechautauqua.com or call the Board of Elections at 753-4580.

Bernie Sanders

BUFFALO – Vermont senator And Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was in Buffalo Monday night and more than 11,000 supporters reportedly came out to hear his message.

During his 90-minute address, Sanders asked audience members to help create a large turnout in next week’s New York presidential primary.

He also touched on the economy, saying it was “rigged.” He talked about how “the business model of Wall Street is fraud.” He said he wants to create affordable higher education, saying student debt needs to be dealt with and there needs to be an economy that creates a decent standard of living for young people.

Sanders drew a large crowd of people inside the University of Buffalo’s Alumni Arena and even more outside.  Officials say 11,983 people total attended the Sanders’ rally, 8,323 inside 3660 outside.

Sanders trails Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton in the race for the party’s nomination. He’s hoping he will continue to gain momentum heading down the final stretch of the primary season with a victory in the party primary, which is Next Tuesday, April 19.

Bernie Sanders

BUFFALO – The presidential primary election is continuing to heat up across New York State, including here in Western New York, as another candidate prepares to make an appearance.

Monday will mark the second visit to Buffalo by a 2016 candidate, as Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hosts his “Future to Believe in Rally” at UB’s Alumni Arena. The rally starts Monday night at 7 p.m., and doors open at 4 p.m.

The visit by Sanders – which comes on the heels of Hillary Clinton’s visit on Friday – is largely due to New York playing a crucial role for both the GOP and Democrats. In past elections, Republicans and Democrats would usually have their final candidate selected at this point, but with both parties still in the process of selecting a candidate, New York has become a key state for all candidates involved.

Both Sanders and Democratic Clinton  claim New York as their home state, but only Sanders can claim to have actually been born in the state, while Clinton didn’t become a resident until just prior to her run as U.S. Senator in 2000. Still, recent polls have indicated Clinton is favored to win the primary and the large number of delegates that come with the Empire State, although Sanders is closing in on Clinton and his hoping for an upset.

The Democratic Presidential Primary will take place a week from Tuesday on April 19. Only registered Democrats in New York State are allowed to vote in the party’s primary.