Andrew Harnik/AP
Voting in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, at the Bishop O’Neill Youth Center in Manchester, New Hampshire
CNN
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New Hampshire’s Republican attorney general fired back at the state’s Democratic Party on Monday after the party rebuked the state party over a dispute over the state’s upcoming Jan. 23 primary.
New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella ordered the Democratic National Committee in a cease-and-desist order on January 8 after the Democratic National Committee notified the state Democratic Party that it would not select delegates based on the primary. denounced it as “illegal voter suppression.” The primaries do not follow the DNC’s revamped nomination calendar, which was announced about a year ago.
In a Jan. 5 letter to the New Hampshire Democratic Party, members of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee said the New Hampshire primary is “pointless” and that the state party and presidential candidates “will not participate.” We should take all possible measures to achieve this.” The Committee called on the State party to educate the public that the main results are non-binding.
“Falsely telling New Hampshire voters that the New Hampshire election is ‘meaningless’ violates New Hampshire’s voter suppression law,” Formella wrote to co-chairs of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee. This was stated in a letter.
The cease and desist order has become the latest headache for President Joe Biden’s supporters. They are working to support his campaign in states where he will not appear on the ballot, despite the president’s decision to make South Carolina the first certified Democratic primary. . Under New Hampshire law, the Granite State must hold its primary election before any other state.
“It’s safe to say that the DNC is less popular in New Hampshire than the New York Yankees,” New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley said in a statement. “State law requires the New Hampshire Secretary of State to conduct the nation’s first primary election, and he intends to follow the law. Nothing has changed, so we expect to see great Democratic turnout on January 23rd. I look forward to seeing you there.”
Biden’s campaign notified the New Hampshire Democratic Party in October that he would not appear on the ballot and was not campaigning in the state. As a result, his allies have launched write-in campaigns to prevent his primary challengers, including Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson, from doing well. Became.
At a write-in Biden news conference in Concord on Monday, supporters of the president acknowledged the challenges ahead.
“It’s clearly more difficult for a candidate to run as a write-in candidate than it is to get their name on the ballot,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said at a press conference.
Asked about the DNC calling New Hampshire’s uncertified primary “pointless,” Raskin said, “Since I’ve been here, I’ve been involved in a lot of meetings, conversations, town hall-type discussions. But all of them were very meaningful to me.”
New Hampshire Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy wouldn’t say how well Biden needs to do in New Hampshire, but predicted Biden would end the night with the most votes.
“I don’t know if we can predict whether we’re going to have another snowstorm today or what’s going to happen that day, but I think a win is a win and Joe Biden is going to get a majority of the votes,” he said. Press conference.
Earlier, Phillips and Williamson took part in a debate in Manchester, where they both said it was impossible for Biden to win the general election and that the National Party would suppress voters in the 2024 Democratic primary. They shared the view that
At one point, Phillips helps copy a letter the Democratic National Committee sent to the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
“I hope it goes on display at the National Archives because I think this is one of the worst affronts to democracy I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said.
Williamson agreed with Phillips, saying “candidate suppression” continues and the Democratic National Committee has decided “Joe Biden is going to be the nominee.”
Mr Phillips later told reporters that writing the initiative showed the party had made a “terrible mistake”.
“The fact that the president is not here, the fact that the Democrats are telling everyone this is meaningless, and yet they’re running a write-in campaign and they’re setting up a super PAC here. That’s what you know. I think that’s all that’s needed,” he said.
