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A group called MA Sanders Voters and Volunteers Disenfranchised by Bill Clinton has officially filed a lawsuit against the former president claiming that he “did disenfranchise a large group of voters by diluting their votes through illegal campaign activity in and near polling stations”.

During the 1 March Massachusetts Democratic primary on Super Tuesday, voters from precincts across the state complained of Clinton’s presence inside polling stations and his presence in parking lots which in turn blocked voters from reaching the polls.

The complaint, filed in Boston Federal District Court, names both president Bill Clinton and Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts William J. Galvin.

It calls for all Democratic delegates won by Bill’s wife Hillary Clinton to be awarded to Bernie Sanders. Clinton beat Sanders by just 1 percent, leading many to suggest that if not for Bill’s presence and obstructionism, Sanders would have won easily.

Massachusetts Secretary of State Galvin, who can be seen posing and talking with Clinton in videos of the event, has said that Clinton’s presence was legal as he did not say things like “vote for Hillary” while inside the polling places.

The lawsuit calls this notion “beyond absurd,” saying that Bill Clinton’s very presence denotes support for Hillary.

“In his very person, the presidential candidates’s fabulously famous husband amounts to a walking, talking sign for Hillary,” the lawsuit reads.

In one video outside of a polling place in New Beford, Clinton actually says “I especially thank those of you who are supporting Hillary,” through a megaphone.

Massachusetts law prohibits campaigning within 150 feet of a polling place, a violation that this publication documented as it happened in the town of New Bedford during the 1 March primary.

Various video and photographic evidence proves Clinton campaigned outside polling places in Boston and actually entered those in Newton, New Bedford and West Roxbury.

“At one point during the day,” continues the lawsuit, “video shows Clinton apologizing to an audience that he was so hoarse from campaigning that he had lost his voice.”

The plaintiffs argue that “Bill Clinton’s illegal actions were carefully and deliberately calibrated to impact the electoral battlefield in such a way that the entire course of future primaries was affected,” claiming a violation of their right to due processes and equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment.

In calling for retribution, the lawsuit cites a doctrine adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1920 during the Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States called the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine. It states that evidence obtained illegally by police against a suspect must be thrown out, therefore the same must be done to delegates obtained illegally.

Following this logic, the lawsuit states: “In the present case, it is delegates which constitute the “fruit of the poisonous tree,” and the claim of victory which was meaningful to the Clinton campaign. To merely reapportion a small number of delegates would do nothing to discourage similar future violations of electioneering laws, because in some cases, a small risk for getting caught might be worth it. Therefore plaintiffs request the court to invalidate the Massachusetts primary results for such open and egregious lawbreaking and to award all Massachusetts pledged delegates to Bernie Sanders.”

Clinton received 63 delegates in the Massachusetts primary compared to Sanders’ 46.

If the primary results were to be overturned, it would propel Sanders significantly closer to the Democratic nomination as upcoming primaries in Wisconsin and New York are looking favorable to the Vermont Senator.

"By the end of the day Hillary Clinton had eked out a narrow victory by 1.4%, which represented about 16,800 votes,” write the plaintiffs. “The narrow victory in this closely watched race, deemed “critical” for each candidate, bolstered the Clinton candidacy in future primaries, making this a live and active issue to the present day."