Written by: Daniel Xie

The Super Tuesdays of the 2020 election, which allowed Biden to solidify his lead over Sanders, were marred by significant instances of voter suppression. This was presumably carried out by the DNC to ensure a Biden victory, or ensure a higher margin of victory for Biden in order to prevent Bernie Sanders from amassing a significant number of delegates.

During Super Tuesday I, in Dallas County, where Biden won the early vote, the county demanded a recount of backup paper ballots that were not counted for whatever reason. Texas, where Bernie had the lead both in the leadup to Super Tuesday and in the exit polls, resulted in a win for Biden. There were various factors contributing to Biden’s victory, such as the gerrymandering of districts in Texas to make it hard for Blacks and Latinos to vote, on whom Sanders has focused much of their outreach on. The possibility that the DNC simply failed to count the ballot to ensure a Biden victory, when framed in the context of their earlier dirty tricks in 2016 and 2020 directed against Sanders, should not be overlooked, especially given United Nations statements that high exit poll discrepancies exceeding 4 per cent constitutes election fraud.

During Super Tuesday II voter disenfranchisement manifested through large vote lines preventing many from voting on time in Michigan, as a result of it’s same-day registration rules. Even as the race was called for Joe Biden in Michigan (where he was initially tied with Bernie), thousands of voters were unable to vote. The victory of Joe Biden, even as long lines still assembled behind the polling stations, raises the question of just how different things would have been if more people were allowed the opportunity to register to vote.

Many young voters in Michigan were significantly impacted by the long voting times, with college students in East Lansing reporting that they waited up to four hours to vote; in many polling stations, the last voter left at 11 PM, long after Joe Biden was declared the victor of the Michigan primary. Some disappointed voters even left before they were able to vote due to the long vote times. Bernie campaign coordinator Abshir Omar stated that a Michigan State university student walked out after an hour of waiting, due to being disgusted by the long wait times.

Voter disenfranchisement continued well into Super Tuesday III, which saw Biden pick up Arizona, Florida, and Illinois. During the time that the Super Tuesday III primaries occured, the Coronavirus outbreak in America was in full swing, and as such, most people wanted to stay home in self-isolation. These primaries should’ve been delayed until a time when the death toll and number of infected starts to drop. Already, public health officials have warned against organizing large gatherings of 50 people or more due to the health concerns they have, while other states, such as Maryland and Ohio have cancelled their primaries because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Yet, the DNC chose not to cancel, or push for the postponement of the primaries, instead taking advantage of the fact that the Coronavirus means both that;

Less people will come out to vote, and There would need to be a greater attention to hygiene and cleanliness in public spaces.

According to Chapo Trap House podcaster Virgil Texas, on Mar. 14, Arizona’s Maricopa county eliminated over a third of voting locations due to issues of cleanliness. This left only 151 polling sites open for Super Tuesday III. With 50 per cent of the population having not voted in the Super Tuesday III primaries, in part due to quarantine; voter turnout was consequently lower, a factor that favors Biden over Bernie. As reported by Sanders political coordinator Abshir Omar, the Coronavirus outbreak has prevented low income neighborhoods and marginalized communities such as Latino neighborhoods in Illinois from being able to vote.

Many in these communities didn’t want to risk standing in poorly ventilated locations, just so they could vote or risk making contact with presumably infected individuals. By contrast, according to a reply to Omar on twitter; whiter and more affluent neighborhoods, had visible precautionary measures that were taken to reduce the risk of illnesses. this structural disenfranchisement where wealthier neighborhoods are more prepared to deal with the COVID-19 would give Biden an advantage; in that more affluent neighborhoods where the population would be less likely to lean Bernie are better prepared to handle large numbers of voters and thus limit the threat of COVID-19 transmission. The voting situation for Illinois is further worsened by certain precincts never receiving supplies at all such as precinct 33, consequently locking out many from being able to vote in the first place.