Due to a clerical error and an unprecedented objection, it is possible that Bernie Sanders will not appear on the primary ballot for the District of Columbia in June.
DNC party leaders say that everything is well under control and they expect the error to be rectified, but the fact remains that the party organization failed to submit Sanders’ registration information to D.C. on time.
It appears that the official deadline for the DNC to submit paperwork for D.C. by 7 p.m. on the 16 of March. The issue with that deadline is that the D.C. Board of Elections closes at 4:45. As a result, the DNC was unable to submit the information for Sanders’ campaign until the next day. The Bernie Sanders campaign did their part in getting the required information to the DNC, but party heads let him down.
It seems a bit unclear whether or not the DNC also filed the paperwork for Clinton the day after the deadline, but if they did, the Clinton campaign is not being challenged in the same way.
To complicate matters, a man has submitted a challenge to Sanders being included on the list of candidates despite his late paperwork. Robert Brannum claims that Sanders being included on the list and ultimately being put on the D.C. ballot in the face of the missed deadline is a clear violation of D.C. rules and that no exceptions should be made.
“To permit late filing is an injustice to the collective electorate of the District of Columbia and is unacceptable to District of Columbia voters. The time has come to break up the intellectually dishonest perception election laws of the District of Columbia can be bought.”
The communications director for the Sanders campaign had this to say:
“We did what the D.C. law requires in order to get Bernie on the ballot and we are confident he will be on the ballot.”
DNC party heads and Sanders’ campaign are confident that he will be allowed on the ballot, but this type of dirty obstructionism and sloppy work is quickly becoming the norm of the DNC. To some, it is no longer an unhappy coincidence.
