NEW YORK — A federal appeals court gave the green light Tuesday to New York state's June 23 Democratic presidential primary.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court judge who ruled two weeks ago that the primary must include the contest over the state's objections.

Three appeals judges heard arguments Friday in Manhattan, demonstrating through their remarks that they agreed with withdrawn candidates Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang that the primary should occur.

They issued an order Tuesday morning to say they were upholding the lower court's ruling and said a written opinion would follow.

Elections were already scheduled for June 23 for numerous other races, including for state and Congressional offices.

The Democratic presidential primary had been cancelled on the grounds that the coronavirus posed too big a safety threat, especially since thousands of poll workers would have to be hired and hundreds of thousands of voters might have trouble social distancing.

But U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said there was enough time before the election to ensure measures were in place to carry it out safely.

Lawyers for the state also conceded last week that no other state canceled its Democratic presidential primary on the grounds that former Vice President Joe Biden was essentially unopposed as the party's candidate in November's presidential election.

Lawyers for delegates for Sanders and Yang argued that the election was crucial to ensuring that the candidates who suspended their campaigns would have adequate representation to influence the party's platform and messaging at the Democrats' August convention.