Florida Dems Threaten Lawsuit Against DNC

[jefferson_dem]

From NBC's Mark Murray

With the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee set on Saturday to consider possible sanctions against Florida after moving up its primary to January 29, Florida Democrats -- Sen. Bill Nelson and Reps. Alcee Hastings, Kendrick Meek, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Kathy Castor -- today fired a warning shot at the DNC.

In a letter to DNC chairman Howard Dean, these five Democrats said they were concerned that the DNC would sanction Florida Democrats if the state goes ahead with its plan to hold its binding primary on a date before February 5. "If true -- and, if the DNC strips Florida of all or some of its delegates to the national convention -- we would ask the appropriate legal officials to determine whether this could violate any state or federal laws governing and protecting individual voting rights."

And then they said this, a reminder of the 2000 voting chaos in the state: "It always has been a priority of our party to protect the right of every eligible American to vote. We would hope the DNC will continue to honor this right, when the Rules and Bylaws Committee meets Saturday in Washington."

In response to this letter, a DNC spokeswoman said, “We will wait and see what the Rules and Bylaws Committee decides on Saturday. We hope Florida will do the right thing and work with the DNC to comply with the rules they voted for."

Interestingly, three of these Florida Democrats -- Hastings, Meeks, and Wasserman Schultz -- have endorsed Clinton; Nelson and Castor have yet to make an endorsement.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/23/330749.aspx