Bernie Sanders’s campaign is accusing Puerto Rico’s Democratic Party officials of fraud in the territory’s presidential primary.
{mosads}The campaign’s head of Hispanic voter efforts, Betsy Franceschini, told Caribbean Business in an interview that Sanders officials were initially denied access to prisons to help inmates vote.
“Our Bernie Sanders officials were never certified. We had 40 officials we submitted in time for the prisons. Not one of them was certified, while all of theirs [Hillary Clinton’s] went in. Attorney Manny Suárez had to go in order for us to be let in. This is a great fraud,” Franceschini said.
In an internal campaign document, the Sanders camp also alleged the local party’s president Roberto Prats and elections commissioner Ramon Lopez de Azua “are holding back the certifications of Bernie Sanders’ voting center officials.”
“They did not deliver the certifications of the officials for the voting and our officials had to go into the prisons to put some pressure,” the memo reads, promising protests if campaign officials aren’t certified.
Puerto Rico is holding its Democratic primary on Sunday. It has 60 delegates up for grabs.