Media Report Stated Sanders Campaign Had Requested Fewer Polling Sites
The Bernie Sanders campaign late Sunday night denied media reports it had requested fewer polling sites for Puerto Rico’s Democratic primary due to a lack of volunteers to monitor the election. Long lines were reported across the island, some two hours long.
Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said an MSNBC report quoting a Puerto Rico Democratic Party committeewoman blaming the Sanders campaign was “total bunk.†NBC News National Reporter Tony Dokoupil announced on-air Sunday Liza Ortiz said the reason the polling stations had been cut so dramatically, by two-thirds, from 1510 to 432, was the Sanders campaign did not have enough volunteers.
“Some Puerto Rico Democratic officials are claiming that the Sanders campaign requested fewer polling places in today’s primary contest,” the Sanders campaign responded in a press release late Sunday night. “That’s completely false. The opposite is true. In emails with the party, Sanders’ staff asked the party to maintain the 1,500 plus presidential primary locations promised by the Puerto Rico Democratic party in testimony before the DNC in April, when the party was asking to have its caucus changed to a primary. They cannot blame their shoddy running of the primary on our campaign. This is just one example of irregularities going on in Puerto Rico voting today. We are the campaign that has been fighting to increase voter participation.”
As NCRM reported Sunday, Puerto Rico is in debt by about $70 billion, forcing austerity measures that include slashing the amount of money for primaries. The GOP primary in March was worse. Polling stations were cut from 1500 to 110.
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Image by Dánica Coto via Twitter