Democrats plan hearing on Fla., Mich. delegates, May 31st.

[tekisui]

WASHINGTON — Florida and Michigan Democrats will finally get a hearing on the national party’s decision to disqualify their national convention delegates — in effect not counting their presidential primary votes — but not until the end of May.

The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the national Democratic Party will meet May 31 to decide appeals from both states. Jon Ausman of Tallahassee, a committee member who filed the appeal on the Florida delegates, said he is confident that at least some of the Florida delegates will be reinstated. How that’s done could determine whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gets any benefit from her win in the Jan. 29 Florida primary. An appeal was also filed by a Michigan Democrat.

The same committee previously ruled that no delegates from either state would be seated at the convention because both held their primaries in January, earlier than party rules allowed. That would mean the votes would not be counted, because primary votes take effect by determining how delegates vote in the nominating contest at the convention.

If the entire Florida delegation were seated, Clinton would gain 38 pledged delegates in her race against Sen. Barack Obama.
Ausman contends in his appeal that the Rules and Bylaws Committee did not have the authority to ban Florida’s unpledged superdelegates and says he expects them to be reinstated.

He says he hopes the committee will also reseat the pledged delegates, although the committee might reduce their voting power. If the committee seated the delegates but gave them half a vote each, for example, Clinton would gain a net 19 delegates instead of 38. But the committee could also simply cut the number of delegates in half. Because of the way the delegates are allocated, that would virtually eliminate any advantage for Clinton.

Word of the meeting comes just after Florida’s Democratic U.S. senator, Bill Nelson, and Rep. Alcee Hastings of Miramar complained to the Democratic National Committee that a staff analysis of the appeals was being kept “under a cloak of secrecy.” DNC lawyers completed an analysis and recommendation two weeks ago, but the party has declined to release it. Ausman said Janee Murphy of Tampa, a former Hillsborough County party chairman and a member of the DNC, and former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, now running for a Miami congressional seat, will argue the case for his appeal.

Martinez is one of the Democratic Party’s best hopes to turn over a Republican congressional seat in November, challenging Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.Ausman said a favorable resolution on the delegates would help Martinez and other Florida Democratic candidates, and that Martinez and Murphy will “give an inclusionary appearance that the African-American and Hispanic communities are behind us.”

Some Floridians have charged that the national party was stalling on its consideration of the Florida appeal, hoping that either Clinton or Obama would take a prohibitive lead, rendering the question of the Florida and Michigan delegates moot.

The May 31 date comes after all the remaining large-state primaries — North Carolina and Indiana on May 6, West Virginia on May 13, and Oregon and Kentucky on May 20.

link: http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/state_regional/govtpolitics/article/democrats_plan_hearing_on_fla_mich_delegates/3217/

They are going for the superdelegates in FL first, and then the Pledged Delegates. Only PR, MT and SD will vote after this hearing.

[Oleladylib]

1. a revote is the only fair way

[cali]

2. Too late for a revote

we simply have to deal with what we have.

[tekisui]

3. I think that's already been ruled out.

In Michigan, you run into trouble, with Dems who voted in the puke Primary, because they knew their vote wouldn't count. How can someone vote in both Primaries?

At any rate, MI's vote was ruled unconstitutional, so it won't be counted as is.

[tkmorris]

5. Getting a bit late for that, innit?

[WeDidIt]

4. The makeup of the rules committee is impoortant

Anybody know who on the committee has endorsed either candidate?

The results may already be a forgone conclusion.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. It seems like the fix is in

If they were serious about exploring options, they'd have the meeting immediately. End of May is too late to start organizing any kind of re-do.

I'd still propose leaving MI delegates out. Otherwise, DNC authority is a joke, and there is no leadership. The primary was FUBAR, what with only one of the current candidates on the ballot, and a high degree of certainty that it wouldn't count. There's no way to split the delegates or conduct a re-do that will be acceptable to both campaigns.

[davidpdx]

7. The committee should stick with the original decision

of the penalty of the entire delegation in terms of pledged delegates. I think at the very least Florida will get their super delegates reinstated. If they do anything about the pledged delegates, I hope if the committee only seats half of the delegation according to the vote. There should be some penalty left in place, lessening it maybe, eliminating it no.