TX Democratic precinct conventions have apparently just been abolished
This is all I know so far - the State Democratic Executive Committee, with three votes in opposition, elected to move all precinct conventions from the night of the primaries to the county/senatorial district conventions instead. This could mark the end of the fabled "Texas Two-Step," although 25% of delegates should still be allocated by convention.
My biggest concern is that the SDEC just drove a stake through the heart of Democratic grassroots activism in Texas, and at the worst possible time.
In the interest of fairness, however, this is how Glenn Maxey describes the vote:
The only thing this does is remove a redundant step that is widely unpopular by rank and file Democrats. In a non-presidential year like 2014, those who attend a Tuesday night precinct caucus are the same people for the most part who attend the County Convention. All actions that occur at the Tuesday night convention are still going to take place. Only in 2014, those precinct caucuses will be held as the first step of the County /Senate District Conventions.
This will save the State Party almost $10,000 dollars in printing and shipping costs of minute and sign in forms.
This will end the conflict that occur for our Precinct Chairs who also serve as Election Judges and also wished in the past to lead their Tuesday night Precinct Conventions. Under the new Rules, they now can deal with closing the polls and delivering election returns without a conflict.
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