Mar 12, 2008 5:47 pm US/Eastern
Nelson, Geller Back Democratic Re-Vote By Mail
If Approved, Ballots Could Be In The Mail By April
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Get ready to vote...again.
More than a million and a half Democrats voted in January's primary. However, those votes didn't count because the National Democratic Party stripped Florida of its' delegates for moving up its primary election.
Wednesday afternoon Senate Democratic Leader Steven Geller is expected to make a major announcement concerning a re-vote in the presidential primary. Initial reports indicate a mail-in revote could be held in early June. Geller, from Cooper City, said the party expects to have a plan in place by Thursday, but he still feels bad for the voters who cast their ballots on January 29th.
"If we do have another revote what do we tell the 1.7 million people that waited on line that day to vote," said Geller, "oops, sorry we changed our minds, hey it's like golf – that was a mulligan election."
Geller said the revote will cost millions of dollars and no one is sure at this point who will pay for it. If it's approved, the ballots could be going out by April.
U.S. Senator Bill Nelson also supports the vote-by-mail do-over of Florida's Democratic presidential primary.
"If anyone has another way of accomplishing this, or of honoring the earlier results without splitting the convention, it needs to be put on the table -- and now, before it's too late," Nelson said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Florida Democratic Party is working on the vote-by-mail proposal. The party's executive committee, which includes U.S. House members, would have to approve the plan. However, as of Tuesday night, the state's House Democrats have opposed the idea.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has encouraged a do-over in order to seat the state's delegates at the August convention. Under party rules, Florida would have until June tenth to name delegates.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Burned Teen's Family Staying Positive
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
