Mar 17, 2008 10:34 pm US/Eastern
Florida Dems Abandon Plans For Re-Vote
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CBS News) ―
Florida Democrats won't go forward with a plan to redo the presidential primary with a mostly mail-in vote, the state party chairwoman said Monday in a letter citing lack of support for the idea.
A solution to the problem is now in the hands of the Democratic National Committee, which stripped the state of its delegates because Florida held an early primary, Chairwoman Karen Thurman said.
"The consensus is clear: Florida doesn't want to vote again. So we won't," Thurman wrote. "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."
The dispute between the state and national parties has become even more critical because Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are locked in a tight battle for the nomination. More than 1.7 million people voted in a Jan. 29 primary, which Clinton won handily, but the DNC said that vote didn't count since party rules didn't allow a primary before Feb. 5. Neither candidate campaigned in the state in the months leading up to the election.
"The decision not to re-vote keeps the state's Democratic delegates in limbo," said CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs. "It is hard to see them being seated solely based on the results of the January vote anytime before the convention and just as difficult to think they would be divided equally between the two candidates. This would appear to be a blow to the Clinton campaign which needs to find a way to make up deficits in both the pledged delegate count and the popular vote."
Thurman now hopes the DNC rules committee will reconsider last year's decision to strip the state of its delegates.
"We researched every potential alternative process - from caucuses to county conventions to mail-in elections - but no plan could come anywhere close to being viable in Florida," Thurman wrote.
The party's last resort was a proposed party-run vote-by-mail and in-person primary, but many Democrats saw too many potential problems, from leaving out seniors who move north for the summer to finding a way of verifying ballot signatures.
"Jay Leno had it right: when you combine the confidence level of the Florida Democratic Party and the United States Postal Service, you might have an issue," said Jon Ausman, a Florida DNC member, who opposed the vote-by-mail plan. "I don't care what experts you hire, if you have no experience doing it, you're very likely not going to make it."
All nine of Florida's Democratic U.S. House members opposed the idea, though Sen. Bill Nelson supported it.
"It was clear that a mail-in was not going to work. It was too risky. You don't want to start experimenting with a new voting method when the stakes are as high as a presidential election," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. "There were a variety of major problems with it."
Wasserman Schultz said that the congressional delegation is talking with the DNC and both campaigns to find another solution to seating Florida's delegates, including an idea that would take into account the January vote among other factors.
"Now we have to turn our focus to a solution that will make sure the Democratic nominee is selected by voters from all 50 states," she said.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
