According to those who have been around long enough to remember pre-Obama elections, this election is unlike any other. Maybe it’s the increased media presence in all of our lives. Maybe it’s the endless issues surrounding the environment and an increasingly globalized society. Maybe it’s Donald Trump, who according to conservative Paul Ryan “lacks conservative principles” (BBC News), among many other things. Maybe it’s Bernie Sanders, a self-described “democratic socialist,” whose political affiliation seems to scare many, especially baby boomers raised during the Cold War to fear communism. Or maybe it’s Hillary Clinton, the first female presidential candidate to become a serious competitor in the race to becoming Commander-in-chief.
Whether it’s because of passion or publicity, this election has garnered the attention of high-school students and new voters across the country, making them genuinely feel as if politics are relevant to them and that their vote will count. This election season has brought many developments, good and bad, but one of the major questions that has arisen is this: how democratic, or even rigged, is our political system?
In this election of firsts, the New York primary was for once regarded as one of importance. Generally, by the time New York gets its turn to vote on nominees for the two parties, a clear lead has been established among competitors. While Trump was leading the Republican field by a long shot before the New York primary, Hillary had won only 18 states to Bernie’s 15. For Bernie, New York would have been a “YUGE” win, closing the gap even further and solidifying the fact that he is a real threat to Hillary’s campaign. Hillary ended up taking New York with 139 delegates while Bernie still acquired a respectable 108—in other words, 1,054,083 to 763,469 votes (New York Times).
So why didn’t Bernie win New York, especially when his campaign was gaining intense momentum and his following in Brooklyn and New York City at large was gigantic? Maybe Hillary would have won New York no matter what, but the 120,000-plus Brooklyn residents (CNN) who were unable to cast their votes in the primary must be taken into consideration. For vague reasons such as voter inactivity or after-mailings being bounced back from their addresses (CNN), these voters—primarily Bernie supporters (New Yorker)—were denied the right to vote. This “purge” of voters was another hit to New York residents and the Bernie campaign after many who were registered as independents had to register as Democrats by October 9 (The Guardian), back when many did not recognize Bernie’s potential. This led to a significant loss of would-be Bernie voters. Especially because the New York primary had never been significant, many independents who had preferred to remain unaffiliated prior to the election would have voted for Bernie had New York not had such strict voting regulations.
Aside from the disdain for New York’s closed primary, victims of the purge and their allies were outraged at the undemocratic nature of the whole election. Polling centers outside of New York City, which have historically been open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., changed their hours to 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. (abc7NY), making it much more difficult for voters working two jobs (and others facing different circumstances) to vote. As written in the Los Angeles Times, “Sanders had hoped New York would show he had made inroads with the nonwhite and women voters crucial to victory. But exit polls showed only 25 percent of blacks and 37 percent of Latinos supporting him, a crippling blow in a party that depends heavily on minority voters.” Perhaps exit polls were so low due to the highly restrictive polling-place hours that had the power to limit voting by many minorities, which was mostly to the detriment of Bernie’s fight to win the primary. Hillary may have held a seat in the Senate for New York, and she may have won 58 percent of NYC’s vote (US News), but had New York been an open primary, Bernie’s chance of winning would have been almost guaranteed: 27 percent of New York’s registered voters were unable to vote as independents (The Nation) and most independents choose to remain unaffiliated, instead searching for the most progressive of candidates who does not necessarily line up with either party.
In this election, tensions run high as strong allegiances to candidates have sparked conflict. Even for Trump fans, the democratic process comes into question as it is debated whether the GOP will block Trump’s nomination and chose another Republican candidate for the general election. From purges to publicity, Americans are passionate about their candidates, and in an election so highly contested, we can expect change, and—in the words of Bernie—hope for a political revolution.