Voters? They had their chance and voted wrong.

Bernie Sanders is still praying for a superdelegate coup that will never happen.

Bernie Sanders reaffirmed Sunday that he is not planning to accept defeat in the primary race until the Democratic Party's convention in July, regardless of the outcome of the June 7 primaries, which include delegate-rich California and New Jersey. Talking to reporters before an event in Oakland, California, Sanders pre-emptively rejected any declarations about Hillary Clinton as the presumptive nominee until superdelegates vote in Philadelphia at the party's convention later this summer, even if she passes the threshold for delegates needed, as she likely will, next week. "I think you know there's been some discussion that some of the media is going to say the campaign is over, she is the nominee on Tuesday night after the votes come in from New Jersey — that's not accurate," said Sanders, who has been feverishly campaigning in California, where 475 pledged delegates are at stake.”

Why would the superdelegates matter if Hillary Clinton has notched a majority of pledged delegates? Because to Sanders, it doesn’t matter what the Democratic electorate (and in effect, its black, female, and brown demographics) has decided. All this “let the late states vote!” talk is hypocritical hogwash, since he clearly doesn’t respect the will of those voters, early or late. They voted wrong! Why should he listen? Instead, he’s basing his endgame on a superdelegate coup that will never happen—and if it did, it sure as hell wouldn’t happen for Sanders’ benefit.

The system is rigged—the first states were lily white, giving Sanders an early boost. He’s gotten 46 percent of the delegates while garnering only 43 percent of the popular vote. He’s benefited from low-turnout, undemocratic caucuses when subsequent higher-participation primaries delivered strikingly different results in Washington and Nebraska. And now, even with all those structural advantages, he still wants the supers to steal the election for him.

Ultimately, what surprises me most isn’t Sanders’ autocratic tendencies. It’s that so many people are playing along, as if democracy is optional.