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WEBVTT ROCK THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. >> FOR THIS CAMPAIGN RIGHT NOW, I AM RUNNING AS A DEMOCRAT. >> IN BERNIE SANDERS, LONG AN 2015, INDEPENDENT, SIGNED UP AS A DEMOCRAT TO RUN IN THE FIRST IN THE NATION PRIMARY. BUT WHEN HE RAN FOR RE-ELECTION TO THE SENATE LAST YEAR IN VERMONT, HE ONCE AGAIN REJECTED THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY NOMINATION. NEW HAMPSHIRE BALLOT LAW COMMISSION CHAIRMAN BRAFORD COOK SAYS THAT’S GOING TO BE AN ISSUE IF SANDERS WANTS TO FILE A CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENT AS A DEMOCRAT HERE IN 2020. >> THE BALLOT LAW COMMISSION, INTERPRETING THE STATUTE AS IT CURRENTLY READS, WOULD BE REQUIRED, BECAUSE IT’S OUR JOB TO APPLY YOUR LAWS, TO KEEP HIM OFF THE BALLOT. >> STATE LAW SAYS SANDERS MUST BE A REGISTERED MEMBER OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO RUN AS A DEMOCRAT. IN 2016, THE BALLOT LAW COMMISSION REJECTED A CHALLENGE TO HIS CANDIDACY, BUT COOK SAYS THE COMMISSION IS UNLIKELY TO DO SO AGAIN. >> HE DID REPRESENT TO US THAT IN FUTURE ELECTIONS HE WOULD RUN AS A DEMOCRAT, A STATEMENT HE MADE IN A PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER HE FILED AT THE SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE. >> COOK IS ENDORSING LEGISLATION THAT WILL SOLVE THE SANDERS PROBLEM BY CLARIFYING THE LAW TO ALLOW A RECOGNIZED CANDIDATE TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN THE PARTY IN WHICH THEY DESIRE TO FILE. >> AT THAT POINT, AS A MATTER OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION, TH HAVE SATISFIED ALL THE REQUIREMENTS NECESSARY IN ORDE TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. >> WE SPOKE TO CLOSE ADVISERS OF SENATOR SANDERS WHO SAID THAT THEY DON’T WANT TO COMMENT BEYOND MONITORING THE SITUATION. READ COOK SAYS THERE IS -- THEY WANT TO AVOID A PROBLEM. >> WE DON’T WANT TO BE IN A SITUATION WHERE WE COULD SCREW UP THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMA

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Sen. Bernie Sanders is still considering whether to make a second run for president, but there have been signals received in the past several days that he’s likely to get into the race.A key Sanders supporter tells WMUR-TV that it is becoming increasingly clear that the 2016 lead-off primary winner is close to making a decision, most likely before the end of the month -- and that it is more likely than not that Sanders will run.The Sanders team in New Hampshire has been waiting for a clear sign to re-launch a grassroots effort in the Granite State. Thanks in large part to that effort, Sanders received 60 percent of the New Hampshire Democratic primary vote in 2016, while eventual nominee Hillary Clinton received 38 percent.It would be a much different race this time with at least nine Democrats either formally announced as candidates or exploring candidacies, which means they will become formal candidates soon. If Sanders enters the race, a New Hampshire primary win would be considered a “must” for his chances going forward.State Rep. Mark King, of Nashua, a member of the Sanders steering committee, said the group has continued to meet since the 2016 campaign ended.He said he hosted an “Organizing for Bernie” meeting recently at his home and sparked a letter-writing effort for supporters to directly ask Sanders to run. King obviously hopes an announcement comes soon -- and that it’s positive.“I really wish the senator would tell me what he’s up to,” King said. “I believe in him. I hope he lets us get started and do what we do.”King said he has known Sanders for more than 20 years, “and he was talking about the same stuff the that he’s talking about now. “He’s consistent," King said. "He had progressive values when it was unpopular and will have the same values going into the future.”King said the recent allegations of sexual harassment on the Sanders campaign during his 2016 run “is a big thing. It’s wrong, but what I know that (in the New Hampshire campaign) there was no tolerance of ‘BS’ at all."“My sense is that there are forces who do not want a true progressive candidate to move to the head of the pack,” King said. “They’d rather have the same old thing -- people who are photogenic and have the right background, so it plays well, but they don’t have the progressive bona fides.”