Certified losers

Andrew Yang and Suraj Patel are a pair of certified losers. So says the Board of Elections which, after a much too long count, formally confirms that they both fell short in New York’s June 23 Democratic primary. The question is whether they’ve learned anything at all from the experience.

Back in May, Yang persuaded Manhattan Federal Judge Analisa Torres to order a presidential primary even though all contenders had dropped out and endorsed Joe Biden, Yang included. It cost millions and delayed the mailing out of absentee ballots, causing problems and disenfranchising who knows how many voters.

Yang needed to win at least 15% to earn delegates. He scored 1.4%. A blank line beat him; 1.7% of Dems made no choice at all.

Patel came closer but still fell short, losing by 3,496 votes in his run against Carolyn Maloney for her East Side Congressional seat. Yet despite the Board of Elections finalizing its count, Patel to this day pigheadedly refuses to concede. Enough.

He had every right to fight in court to force a count of a thousand or so unpostmarked ballots; Torres agreed, rightly ordering the Board to count those that had arrived on June 24 or June 25. It’s a rule that should be followed in future elections.

But even if all those ballots break Patel’s way, he’ll lose. Even if Torres had forced a count of unpostmarked ballots received up to June 30, he would lose. The numbers just aren’t there.

Know when to fold ‘em.