A presidential candidate must have 5,000 signatures to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot in New York. Unpaid volunteers for Bernie Sanders in New York State collected 85,000 signatures.
On the steps of New York City Hall, about 80 Sanders volunteers stood in drizzling rain February 3 to celebrate their achievement in front of 26 boxes of signatures. The rally was organized by the Workers Family Party and Labor for Bernie.
More than a dozen speakers, all of them representing organizations of hundreds and thousands of members, endorsed Sanders and his position on the issues. American Postal Workers Union leader Jonathan Smith proved a most fiery speaker.
“There’s a storm a-brewin’,” he shouted. “The storm is called Hurricane Bernie!”
Smith knocked down the common tropes that Sanders is asking for the impossible and that he can’t win if receives the Democratic nomination.
“The option to ‘take only what we can’ is crazy. We’re told we have chosen a candidate that can’t win. Iowa changes that [because Sanders came from 50 points behind Clinton to a dead heat]. We’re not asking for justice; we’re demanding justice.”
The New York Primary is Tuesday, April 19. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has not revealed how many signatures it’s collected to secure her name on the New York ballot. Neither NWU nor the UAW have made any endorsement of a Presidential candidate.
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