Florida Primary Election Conflict Headed to Court

[babylonsister]

Florida Primary Election Conflict Headed to Court
By Rachel Kapochunas | 2:45 PM; Oct. 04, 2007


The battle between the national Democratic Party and its Florida affiliate over that state’s rule-breaking early primary date escalated Thursday morning, when two of the state’s congressional veterans, Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, announced they had filed a lawsuit in Tallahassee against the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

The suit seeks to block penalties the DNC has threatened to invoke because Florida Democrats, under a state law enacted in May, have scheduled their presidential primary for Jan. 29. The most prominent penalty could be the loss of all of the state’s 210 delegates to the August 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The DNC’s scheduling rules for the 2008 nominating process set Feb. 5 as the first date on which most states are allowed to hold presidential contests, with waivers provided only for caucuses in Iowa and Nevada and primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina. But Florida Democrats, with Nelson and Hastings taking the lead on the party’s lawsuit, allege that such penalties represent an unconstitutional infringement on Floridians’ right to vote.

“Every one of the more than 4.25 million registered Democratic voters in Florida will be completely disenfranchised, and their constitutional rights with respect to that election will be eviscerated,” the suit contends.

Nelson, the state’s two-term senior senator, echoed this position at Thursday’s news conference, saying the lawsuit is “about the right of every American to have access to the ballot box, the right of every American to have their ballot counted and to have it counted as intended.”

more...

http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/10/florida_primary_election_confl.html

[rateyes]

1. That's just utter bullshit....

Floridians will have access to the ballot box....on February 5, and they will have their delegates seated, if they follow the rules THEY VOTED FOR.

I'm sick of one state thinking they are more important than others.

If you didn't like the rule, Florida, you should have voted against it when it was drawn up. You voted for it.

[rateyes]

2. Dupe.

don't know why it got posted twice.

[madfloridian]

3. And Bill Nelson is getting much press attention.

I wish he stood for issues we cared about like getting out of Iraq, fixing the horrible bankruptcy bill, etc. etc.

But this is how he is making his mark on the political world...it makes him feel so important.

[yewberry]

4. Can the Democratic voters in FL

file a class-action suit against Nelson & the FDP for conspiracy to deprive them of their constitutional rights?

Lawsuits seem to be the language they understand.

[LittleClarkie]

5. They're right to vote isn't being infringed on

They have the right to vote. They just don't have the right to vote early. Their delegates signed off on the rules, and so their state must abide by them.

If their rights are being taken away, then they are being taken away by those who seek to break the rules.

[Debi]

6. Well, this is what everyone who contributed to the DNC wanted thier

contributions spent on :eyes: