Florida “No” To Primary Re-Vote Plan
In Florida, a frustrated Democratic Party chairwoman Karen L. Thurman sent a letter announcing the decision.
“A party-run primary or caucus has been ruled out, and it’s simply not possible for the state to hold another election, even if the party were to pay for it,” Thurman said. “… This doesn’t mean that Democrats are giving up on Florida voters. It means that a solution will have to come from the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, which is scheduled to meet again in April.”
Members of Florida’s congressional delegation unanimously opposed the plan, and Barack Obama expressed concern about the security of a mail-in vote organized so quickly.
Michigan closer to a new primary:
Michigan moved closer to holding another contest on June 3. Legislative leaders reviewed a measure Monday that would set up a privately funded, state-administered do-over primary
The draft Michigan legislation included language that would approve spending privately raised funds for the election, according to a Democratic leader who spoke on condition of anonymity because lawmakers and the campaigns are still considering the proposal.
The campaigns also received copies of the bill Monday.
The Democrat-led House is scheduled to leave for a two-week vacation Thursday, so any bills to set up the do-over primary need to be brought up quickly. The measure also would have to be approved by the Republican-controlled state Senate. To be given immediate effect, the measure would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.
To go forward, any plan also would require the approval of the two campaigns, the Democratic National Committee, state party leaders and Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who is backing Clinton.
- The contest must be held by June 10 for the results to count under DNC rules.
- Voters would have to sign a statement that they hadn’t voted in the Jan. 15 GOP primary to be eligible to vote in the June 3 one. That would effectively keep away from the polls Democratic voters – most of them non-Clinton supporters – who crossed over to vote in the GOP primary because Clinton was the only major candidate on the Democratic ballot.
The draft measure would set up the a fund within the state Treasury to receive up to $12 million in cash and other assets from private donors to cover the cost of the election.
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March 18th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Thank goodness. The last thing we need is another Florida election debacle.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Well I think we already have one. This time Florida thought it would be a good idea to start at the primaries instead of waiting until the last minute.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Why they’re even considering having these do-over primaries is beyond me. Both states, knowing full & well what the consequences would be if they moved up their primaries, decided to move their primaries up in the calendar year thereby rendering their delegates null and void. Why should the DNC let them have the option of having another primary where the delegates can count, basically rewarding them for choosing to move up their primary? In Michigan, this also penalizes those people who took the DNC at their word and exercised their vote on the Republican side where it counted. If they don’t let those people vote, but let everyone else who voted vote, they’re punishing them.
I’m of the opinion that the DNC should just tell both states that they basically made their beds, now lie in them. The choose to move their primaries up knowing that they would lose their delegates in the process. So be it.