OPINION:
So Ivanka and Eric Trump forgot to register to vote for their father, businessman Donald Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner.
I’m not surprised. Both work at their father’s real-estate business and have tried — their hardest — to stay apolitical to maintain their business ties while at the same time supporting their father in his GOP ambitions.
Unlike Mr. Trump’s product lines, Ivanka’s still can be found at Macy’s.
What is surprising, however, is that why — in one of the most liberal states, governed by Andrew Cuomo of the Democratic Cuomo dynasty, with progressive-icon Bill de Blasio helming New York City — does the state have such arcane voting registration laws?
New York is a closed primary, and in order to vote in it, you needed to be a registered Republican or Democrat by Oct. 9, 2015. That’s six months before actual primary voting!
One of the chief rallying cries on the left is voter disenfranchisement — that having to issue a photo ID at the ballot box is too laborious and discriminatory. Yet, in one of the most liberal states in America, you need to be registered months in advance before the actual primary.
But I guess it’s not discriminatory if it favors a party favorite.
You see, New York’s primary’s rule puts Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont at a great disadvantage to Hillary Clinton. Mr. Sanders has lost every primary where independents are not allowed to vote and late-deciding and/or new voters are barred from the process.
“In New York, tight laws and early deadlines will compound the challenge for Sanders,” MSNBC wrote in an analysis piece. “There is no same-day registration in the state. Independents or members of third parties who want to vote as Democrats had to change their party registration by Oct. 9.
“And new voters — another key Sanders voting bloc — had to register by March 25, just days after the Sanders campaign deployed their first paid staffers in New York and the day before they opened their first field office there,” the left-leaning news site reported.
New York didn’t change its voting rules to discriminate against Mr. Sanders or the Trump children — indeed they were well in place before a Trump or Sanders run. However, one thing can be said for sure: The rules seem to favor the established political class and discriminate against outsiders.
It’s a narrative that’s wearing thin this election cycle.
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