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Mar 7, 2008 9:13 am US/Eastern
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Campaign Hopes To Stop Florida "Re-Vote"
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Every four years, Floridians head to the polls to cast their ballots for will be the next Commander in Chief.
"Of course your vote should be counted, of course, absolutely," said Tina Ness, "everybody's vote should be counted."
But something different happened before the presidential primary of 2008. The Florida legislature moved the primary date up, much to the dismay of the Democratic National Committee which stated they would punish the state by not counting their delegates at the national convention. Now, Democratic party leaders are re-considering their controversial decision, making it even more contentious.
"I think the Florida votes should be counted," said Gracie Edwards.
"Of course they should count," Carlos Somoza agreed, "I mean basically the Democratic Party, I think, disenfranchised millions of democrats."
Many people agree and have written about it in blogs and columns online. But the feeling isn't unanimous. An electronic grassroots effort to oppose the move to count Florida is growing. A chain email says Barack Obama could be 'bamboozled out of the presidency' if the Florida primary votes count. It urges sympathetic voters to write to the DNC and request that they stick to their original plan of not seating Florida delegates at the convention.
"We knew before the election that the vote was not gonna count," said Reverend Richard Dunn, "so the rules can't change in the middle of the game."
Dunn, head up the civil rights organization PULSE. The group has urged the DNC not to count Florida's delegates. He says despite the Democrats agreement to stay away from Florida, Hillary Clinton campaigned in Florida on two occasions while Obama did not. Now, months after the Florida primary, Dunn says the latest uproar to make Florida's votes count is really "a ploy to give an assist to Hillary Clinton."
But not everyone agrees with that view. Julian Bond, the chairman of the NAACP, has written to the DNC urging them to uphold the rights of all voters in Florida and Michigan and schedule a re-vote in the coming months. But it may not be that easy. Victor Dimaio, of Tampa, announced Thursday he may file a legal injunction that would prevent Florida from holding a re-vote. Just last year, Dimaio sued to have Florida's delegates seated at the convention.
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