Four states—Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Massachusetts—have chosen to limit the Democratic primary election to a single candidate: Joe Biden.
This decision effectively crowns him the Democratic nominee without contestation in those states and has sparked allegations of disenfranchisement among voters.
The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) announced that the upcoming primary ballot will only feature Joe Biden’s name, eliminating any chance of write-in candidates or other challengers within the party.
Tampa attorney Michael Steinberg has responded with a federal lawsuit alleging constitutional rights violations due to excluding other Democratic candidates from the ballot.
This includes Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips who is also running for nomination. Tennessee and North Carolina have followed suit by offering only Joe Biden on their ballots with North Carolina additionally providing “No Preference” as an alternative vote option.
The nominations have prompted criticism from both Phillips’ campaign and author Marianne Williamson’s camp and raised questions about our democratic process within the party.
According to a press release from Tennessee’s Secretary of State, “Republican candidate Doug Burgum withdrew from the ballot after suspending his campaign. Democratic candidate Dean Phillips did not satisfy the requirements to gain ballot access via the petition process.”
“We are expecting strong voter turnout for the presidential election cycle next year,” said Secretary Hargett. “I encourage all Tennesseans who need to register to vote or update their voter registration address do so now by using our convenient online voter registration system at GoVoteTN.gov.”
The North Carolina Democratic Party has determined that no candidates opposing Joe Biden will be included on the ballot for the elections in March.
WRAL reported:
Democratic President Joe Biden appears headed to an automatic victory in North Carolina’s 2024 Democratic Party primary election. The North Carolina Democratic Party has declined to allow any Biden challengers onto the ballot for March’s elections.
At least two politicians, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Marianne Williamson, a self-help author from California who also ran for president in 2020, have mounted challenges to Biden this year.But unless they fight for it, they won’t be allowed to be on the ballot in North Carolina. The State Board of Elections voted Tuesday to accept all the lists of candidates for the primary submitted by the state’s political parties, including the Democratic Party’s Biden-only selection.
Tommy Mattocks, a spokesman for the North Carolina Democratic Party, defended the decision to make Biden the only option. He’s the only one who’s worked to earn it, he said.
“In order to get on the ballot, you need to have donors in the state, and be actively campaigning in the state,” he told WRAL. “Neither of them have been here this cycle. This is the standard that we have used in all previous cycles.”
In Massachusetts, Marianne Williamson expressed strong disapproval of the Democratic Party’s decision to submit only President Joe Biden’s name for the state’s Super Tuesday presidential primary ballot.
This echoes sentiments raised in other states that have similarly limited their ballots to a singular listing of Biden.
“The DNC is at it again… We discovered the Massachusetts Democratic Party intends to include only Joe Biden as their primary candidate on the MA ballot,” Williamson wrote.
“Dem Chair Steve Kerrigan’s misplaced attempt at protecting Joe Biden robs Massachusetts Democrats of their voice and choice in the upcoming election. This action is a flagrant violation of DNC rules and process.”
