【V视国际/MGM美高美传媒】

2020年5月8日，纽约。

今天，皇后区总统候选人尹导对纽约州长安德鲁·库莫（Andrew Cuomo）提起诉讼，声称库莫取消6月23日法定的皇后区长补缺选举是非法和无效的。

尹导的选举律师亚伦·弗洛登瑙尔（Aaron Foldenauer）说：“科莫试图取消皇后区长补缺选举的举动，无非是简单明了的非法夺权。” “值得注意的是，州长允许当天在皇后区进行民主党初选，因此他甚至无法合理地辩称取消补缺选举是由于COVID-19。”

“无党派的补缺选举是由《纽约市宪章》法定的，而科莫试图取消这一选举，意味着只有登记的民主党人才可以在皇后区长即将举行的初选中投票。” 尹导的选举律师福尔登瑙尔说。 “这将剥夺成千上万皇后区选民的选举权，实际上确保了在库莫政治机制支持下的候选人将获胜。”

皇后区长补缺选举的另一位候选人吉姆·奎因（Jim Quinn）也提起诉讼，挑战州长库莫（Cuomo）的行政命令。

尹导一直专注于争取更多资源以抗击皇后区的冠状病毒流行。他强调，在库莫突然决定取消皇后区长补缺选举之前，部分选民已经开始在早期选举和缺席投票中进行投票。

尹导说：“已经有5400多名选民在特别选举中投票，我的竞选活动还收集了数百个缺席选票。” “通常说每一次选票都很重要，但是如果允许库莫的深夜行政命令生效，那么这些选票就不会算在内。”

“我们的竞选活动花费了大量时间和金钱来接触各种类型的选民，包括民主党人，共和党人和独立党派人士“，尹导对于州长库莫（Cuomo）在最后一刻改变游戏规则，偏向那位被民主党俱乐部背书的候选人的做法表示愤慨。

自2020年1月6日起，前皇后区总统梅林达·卡兹宣誓就职为皇后县地方检察官，此后，未经选举的官员莎朗·李（Sharon Lee）填补了皇后区总统办公厅。根据《纽约市宪章》，特别选举旨在通过选举产生的领导人在2020年中任职区长。

其他政治人物也反对库莫州长的非法企图插手皇后区长选举的立场。

州参议院候选人兼东区独立党俱乐部主席迈克尔·祖姆布卢斯卡斯（Michael Zumbluskas）表示：“库莫州长的非法取消补缺选举将使不是民选的官僚成为皇后区长整整一年，而皇后区则受到冠状病毒爆发的摧残，皇后区的居民应得到更好的待遇。”

尹导还是在皇后区长民主党初选投票的选票上，该初选仍定于6月23日举行。与补缺选举不同，初选将不会由民选官员填补空缺，直到2021年1月， 皇后区不会有一位法定的民选区长。如果允许库莫的行政令有效，另一位挑战库莫行政命令的候选人吉姆·奎因将被迫退出竞选。

尹导说：“无论哪种方式，我都在为皇后区长选举的选票上。但是，呼唤库莫州长透明的权力行使是正确的选择。”

尹导非常不理解在皇后区出生和长大的库莫州长为什么要剥夺区内成千上万选民的政治权利。他认为，如今皇后区正在遭受历史上最大的危机，新型冠状病毒已经让约5万名皇后区居民感染，成千上万的中小企业尤其是新移民创造的小型公司面临倒闭。而我们的拥有240万人口的皇后区从今年1月1日4至今没有一位民选区长。一个新区长选出前过渡的代理区长因为不是民选的，是不能代表民意，在如此严峻的情况下担当到今年年底。民选区长任期也只有4年。整个2020年，皇后区区政将失去民主。

Cuomo于4月24日星期五深夜发布了行政命令，没有事先进行任何公开讨论或评论。直到今天，库莫仍未阐明他突然取消皇后区长补缺选举的决定背后的原因。

尹导的律师亚伦·弗洛道纳（Aaron Foldenauer）说：“这种内部棒球的做法表明库莫的举动旨在操纵选举。” “在没有选举补缺的情况下，只有注册的民主党人才有资格投票选举下一任皇后区长，明显在帮助皇后区民主党机器，使大约450,000名皇后区选民无权选择在这个充满挑战的时期领导该区的区长。”

尹导指出，皇后区一直是冠状病毒中受灾最严重的，处于危机之中。我们的医院不堪重负。6月23日的选举是人们第一次真正听到他们关于皇后区所有居民如何扭转危机的声音的机会。

正如尹导的律师亚伦·弗洛道纳进一步指出的那样，库莫州长在特别选举方面的游戏技巧历史进一步证明了库莫州长试图干预皇后区总统选举是非法的。

Foldenauer说：“这是一项非法命令，法院驳回了Cuomo州长先前操纵特别选举的尝试。”当国会议员迈克尔·格里姆（Michael Grimm）辞职后，库莫拒绝举行特别选举时，一位联邦法官判决，库莫州长的“不合理的延迟填补空缺不能容忍。”

“此外，这不是一次纽约州的选举，而是一次纽约市的选举，应由纽约市市长比尔·德布拉西奥（Bill de Blasio）宣布，” 弗洛道纳说。 “州长库莫州长无权取消皇后区长补缺选举。”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Aaron Foldenauer

Dao Yin for Queens Borough President

aaron@daoyin.nyc

(646) 662-7460

【Dao Yin, Candidate for Queens Borough President, Files Suit Against Governor Cuomo】

Lawsuit Alleges that Cuomo’s Attempt to Cancel the Mandatory June 23 Special Election

for Queens Borough President is Illegal and Invalid

NEW YORK, NY, May 8, 2020.  –  Today, Dao Yin, a candidate for Queens Borough President, filed a lawsuit against the Governor of the State of New York, Andrew Cuomo, alleging that the executive order in which Cuomo cancelled the Special Election previously scheduled to occur on June 23 is illegal and invalid.

“Cuomo’s attempt to cancel the Special Election for Queens Borough President is nothing more than an unlawful power grab, plain and simple,” said Aaron Foldenauer, the election lawyer representing Mr. Yin.  “Notably, the Governor is allowing a primary election to proceed on that very same day in Queens and thus he cannot even plausibly contend that cancelling the Special Election is due to COVID-19.”

“The non-partisan Special Election is mandated by the New York City Charter, and Cuomo’s attempt to cancel it means that only registered Democrats would be able to vote in an upcoming primary for Queens Borough President,” said Foldenauer, Yin’s attorney.  “This would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Queens voters and virtually ensure that a candidate supported by Cuomo’s political machine would prevail.”

Another candidate for Queens Borough President, Jim Quinn, has also filed suit challenging Governor Cuomo’s executive order.

Yin, who has focused his campaign on fighting for additional resources to fight the Coronavirus epidemic in Queens, emphasized that voting had already begun prior to Cuomo’s abrupt decision to cancel the Special Election.

“Over 5,400 voters have already cast their ballots in the Special Election, and my campaign has gathered hundreds of additional absentee ballots,” Yin said.  “It’s often said that every vote counts, but if Cuomo’s late-night executive order were allowed to stand, those votes literally will not be counted.”

“Our campaign has spent significant amounts of time and money reaching out to voters of all types, including Democrats, Republicans, and independents,” said Dao Yin, a community activist, businessman, and candidate for Queens Borough President.  “For Governor Cuomo to change the rules of the game at the last minute in order to benefit his cronies is an outrage.”

The office of Queens Borough President has been filled by an unelected official, Sharon Lee, since January 6, 2020, when Melinda Katz, the prior Queens Borough President, was sworn in as District Attorney for Queens County.  Pursuant to the New York City Charter, The Special Election was designed to fill the office with an elected leader through the end of 2020.

Other political leaders have also taken a stand against Governor Cuomo’s unlawful attempt to meddle into the election for Queens Borough President.

“Governor Cuomo’s unlawful cancellation of the Special Election would leave an unelected bureaucrat as Queens Borough President while Queens is being ravaged by the Coronavirus outbreak,” said Michael Zumbluskas, a candidate for State Senate and the President of the East Side Independence Club.  “The residents of Queens deserve better.”

Dao Yin remains on the ballot for the Democratic primary for Queens Borough President and which is still scheduled to occur on June 23.  Unlike the special election, however, the primary will not result in an elected official to fill the vacancy until January of 2021.   Jim Quinn, the other candidate who has challenged Cuomo’s executive order, will be out of the race entirely if Cuomo’s edict is allowed to stand.

“I’m on the ballot for Queens Borough President either way,” said Yin, “but calling out Governor Cuomo’s transparent power grab is the right thing to do.”

Dao Yin was particularly stunned by the Governor’s decision, given that Cuomo was born and raised in Queens.

“Queens is struggling and has been the hardest-hit borough in the City, with nearly 50,000 confirmed cases of Coronavirus,” said Dao Yin.  “Cuomo is denying the voters of Queens their right to representation during these tragic times.  I am stunned that Cuomo can disenfranchise the entire Borough, when he was born and raised right here in Queens.”

Cuomo issued the executive order late in the evening on Friday, April 24 without any prior public discussion or comment.  To this day, Cuomo has still yet to articulate the reasons behind his sudden decision to cancel the Special Election.

“The inside baseball here is that, Cuomo’s actions are designed to manipulate the election,” said Aaron Foldenauer, Dao Yin’s attorney.  “Without a Special Election, only registered Democrats will be eligible to vote for the next Queens Borough President, thus helping the Queens Machine and leaving approximately 450,000 Queens voters without the right to choose the person to lead the Borough during these challenging times.”

Dao Yin pointed out the unique need for strong leadership in Queens given that Queens has been the hardest-hit borough in the City from the Coronavirus.

“Queens is in a crisis.  Our hospitals are overwhelmed.  This election on June 23 is the first chance for the people to actually have their voice heard as to how all residents of Queens can turn the corner on this crisis,” said Yin.

As Dao Yin’s attorney further pointed out, Governor Cuomo’s history of gamesmanship with respect to Special Elections further demonstrates the illegality of Governor Cuomo’s attempt to meddle in the election for Queens Borough President.

“This is an illegal order, and courts have rejected Governor Cuomo’s previous attempts to manipulate special elections,” said Foldenauer.  When Cuomo refused to schedule a special election following the resignation of Congressman Michael Grimm, a federal judge concluded that Governor Cuomo’s ‘unjustified delay in filling a vacancy cannot be countenanced.’ ”

“Furthermore, this is a not a State election, but rather, is a City election and which was called by the Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio,” said Foldenauer.  “Governor Cuomo, as a state official, does not have the authority to cancel the Special Election for Queens Borough President.”

*             *             *           

Born and raised in China, Dao Yin is a first-generation immigrant to the United States. Dao Yin has been a Community Activist in Queens for nearly two decades.  His experience in the fields of finance, technology, and accounting makes him uniquely qualified to become the next Queens Borough President.

More information about Dao Yin and his policies can be found at http://www.daoyin.nyc/.