Ivanka Trump calls out 'onerous' New York voter rules

Ms Trump explained why she and her brother, Eric, cannot vote for their father

Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump attending a GOP presidential debate Timothy A Clary/Getty

Ivanka Trump criticised New York’s voter registration deadlines in an explanation as to why she and her brother, Eric, cannot vote for their father, Donald Trump, in the upcoming state primaries.

At a CNN town hall event, Ms Trump explained that, because of “onerous” registration rules in the state, they missed the deadline to renew their voter registration.

“We’re not a family of politicians. We haven’t been in politics very long,” she told Anderson Cooper. “[The registration rules] required us to register a long time ago — almost close to a year ago. We didn’t do that. We found out sort of after the fact.”

Eric Trump added that he, along with his sister, initiated an outreach programme through the campaign to educate voters who were unfamiliar with their state’s registration guidelines.

“It was our first foray into politics. We didn’t realize how the whole system worked,” he said. “We actually made it a big part of the campaign. There’s no one who’s been more visible on the campaign than the two of us.”

The deadline to register to vote in the 19 April primaries fell on 25 March, according to the New York State Board of Elections. However, because New York runs a closed primary — where voters belonging to a particular party can participate — applicants looking to change party had until 9 October to register. Neither Ivanka nor Eric Trump were registered Republicans.

At the same town hall event, Donald Trump, called out the Republican party saying that his campaign was going against all odds, following an “unfair” loss to Texas Sen Ted Cruz in Colorado.

“The Colorado thing was very, very unfair,” Mr Trump told CNN. “I know the rules very well, but I know that it’s stacked against me by the establishment.”

The Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, responded critically to Mr Trump in a tweet.

“Nomination process known for a year [and] beyond. It’s the responsibility of the campaigns to understand it,” he wrote. “Complaints now? Give us all a break.”