NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Independent New York voters who were hoping to gain the right to vote in the state’s closed primary received some disappointing news from a federal judge on Tuesday, when she denied a request for a temporary restraining order that would have opened up New York’s primary election to all voters, regardless of party affiliation.
District Judge Joanna Seybert denied the request, and delayed a hearing on an emergency lawsuit filed Monday, which sought to open the state’s closed primary so that New York’s 3.2 million independents could cast a ballot on Tuesday.
Breaking: Federal judge denies TRO request in lawsuit filed on Monday challenging NY's closed primary. pic.twitter.com/rTZzqHtQy3
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) April 19, 2016
Filed by the group Election Justice USA, the lawsuit alleged that many New York voter registrations were being purged from the rolls, and that some voters’ party affiliations were being changed without explanation.
Jordan Chariton, a reporter for The Young Turks, reported on Twitter that the lawsuit was delayed because the plaintiffs essentially named the wrong defendants. Instead of the New York state Board of Elections, Seybert reportedly said the lawsuit should be challenging each individual county’s board of the elections, because they are responsible for what happens with voter registrations.
(Several part tweet) NYPrimary election lawsuit: Judge orders hearing 4 later date, instructs plaintiffs to name every single NY county as..
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) April 19, 2016
Defendants and give each county notice that they have to appear in court to defend their voter registration process (over 60 counties)…
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) April 19, 2016
NY Board of Election said they have nothing to do with the problems, are "not responsible for the counties" #NYPrimary
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) April 19, 2016
Before the ruling on Tuesday afternoon, Election Justice USA was urging independent New York voters to go to the polls and file provisional ballots, in the hopes that they may eventually counted if the lawsuit was successful.
Still, the decision to delay the lawsuit is not the worst possible news for independent New York voters hoping to have those provisional ballots counted. Though Seybert delayed the lawsuit, it wasn’t completely thrown out. If a judge does eventually grant the plaintiffs’ request, provisional ballots filed by independent voters in Tuesday’s election could eventually be counted.
Plaintiff attorney Jonathan Clarke, however, admitted in an interview with Chariton that it would be unlikely if his request to have an open primary in New York were granted. Clarke said he’d focus instead on changing the law to benefit voters who say they had their party affiliations erroneously stricken from the record. “We’re asking that the vote stay counted until the Board of Elections can actually show that you’re not a registered Democrat,” Clarke said.