Public Media from Michigan State University

MI Sanders Supporters Express Disillusionment Post-Biden Win

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A caricatured head resembling Bernie Sanders sits on a platform at a Sander watch party in Lansing.
Kevin Lavery

Former vice-president Joe Biden won Michigan’s presidential primary last night.  Some Bernie Sanders supporters in Lansing felt their full voice was not heard at the polls.

 

Supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders were hoping for a repeat of his resounding 2016 Michigan primary win. 

 

Instead, Joe Biden will take the state’s delegates with him to the national convention. 

 

A new law triggered a flood of absentee ballots and same-day registrations that resulted in long lines at the polls. 

 

Sanders supporter Mara Zumberg attended a watch party in Lansing.  She believes that surge in voters limited Sanders’ ability to compete in the state.

 

“There’s a failure of our voting system today; that there are people waiting in three, four, five hour lines to vote,” she says.  “This is absolutely ridiculous that people are this disenfranchised in a Democratic primary.”

 

The 2020 presidential primary marked the first time Michigan offered no-reason absentee voting.

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Kevin Lavery served as a general assignment reporter and occasional local host for Morning Edition and All Things Considered before retiring in 2023.