Case 1:20-cv-03325-AT Document 43 Filed 05/05/20 Page 9 of 30
the opportunity to compete for elective office—for Yang, as a presidential candidate, the chance
to receive votes that would allow his supporters to go to the Convention, and for Delegate
Plaintiffs, the chance to be elected as delegates based on the votes their candidate receives. It
also deprived Plaintiffs and Plaintiff-Intervenors of their opportunity as voters to cast a ballot for
the individual who represents their political views. Id. ¶ 89. Yang’s suspension of his campaign
does not divest him of standing to challenge his erasure as a primary contender. Yang suspended
his campaign with the understanding that his name would remain on the ballot, see Yang Aff.
¶¶ 5–6, which would allow him to accumulate delegates. Eliminating him as a candidate
forecloses a significant means of exercising “influence at the party’s [C]onvention.” Compl.
¶ 70. It does the same for his pledged delegates. Removing Plaintiffs and Plaintiff-Intervenors
from the ballot and canceling the presidential primary denied them the chance to run, and denied
voters the right to cast ballots for their candidate and their political beliefs—all of which amount
to “actual,” “concrete, and particularized” injuries. Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560.
Second, “a causal connection” exists “between the injury and the conduct complained
of.” Id. (internal quotation mark, alteration, and citation omitted). It is undisputed that the injury
here “is fairly traceable to the” actions of the Democratic Commissioners, id. (internal quotation
marks, alteration, and citation omitted), because the April 27 Resolution removing the ten
presidential candidates and Delegate Plaintiffs from the ballot triggered the cancellation of the
primary by operation of law.
Third, the requirement that it be “likely that the injury [will] be redressed by a favorable
decision” is also met here. Id. at 561 (internal quotation marks, alteration, and citation omitted).
Plaintiffs’ and Plaintiff-Intervenors’ injuries would be redressed by the requested relief, which
would require the BOE Officials to (1) place Yang and Delegate Plaintiffs back on the ballot,
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