Dem lawyers: Fla., Mich. can't be fully Restored

Politisite would like to take you down a quick trip down memory lane. Remember the Florida Primary that We covered Live here on NowPublic? Here is what we said on election night,

Politisite Opinion: If Cinton gets Her delegates from MI, I think Obama should get the, “uncommitted” votes. Every vote will count and Clinton gets almost no advantage.

2037 hrs – I Expect that Hilliary CLINTON WILL HAVE LAWYERS IN THE CAPITAL CITY WITH VOTERS WHO SAY THEY HAD THIER CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATED DUE TO THIER VOTE NOT COUNTING. they WAY i VIEW IT THYE HAVE A POINT A PARTY CANNOT VIOLATE CIVIL RIGHTS OF AN INDIVIDUAL WHEN THE ISSUE WAS THROUGH THE STATE HOUSE AND SENATE

Source: nowpublic.com via politisite

Then when Senator Clinton went to Davey Florida to Claim victory,

FLORIDA: Election Results – News & Views

2045 – Clinton states to crowd in Davey Florida that she will do Everything in her power to get each and every Floridians voice heard. Bottom line, She is going to help them help her get the delegates

Source: nowpublic.com via politisite

We fully expected legal action. Folks in Hillaryland had a better statagey than we, as they waited until now to infultrated the legal teams.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic Party rules committee has the authority to seat some delegates from Michigan and Florida but not fully restore the two states as Hillary Rodham Clinton wants, according to party lawyers.

Democratic National Committee rules require that the two states lose at least half of their convention delegates for holding elections too early, the party’s legal experts wrote in a 38-page memo.

The memo was sent late Tuesday to the 30 members of the party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, which plans to meet Saturday at a Washington hotel. The committee is considering ways to include the two important general election battlegrounds at the nominating convention in August, and the staff analysis says seating half the delegates is “as far as it legally can” go.

Saturday’s meeting is expected to draw a large crowd, with Clinton supporters among those encouraging a protest outside demanding that all the states’ delegates be seated. Proponents of full reseating have mailed committee members Florida oranges and pairs of shoes to get their attention.

DNC officials are concerned about a potentially large turnout at the “Count Every Vote” rally outside the event and have asked the hotel staff to increase security to keep everyone safe. The DNC says the roughly 500 seats available to the public inside were taken within three or four minutes of becoming available online Tuesday.

The DNC analysis does not make recommendations for how the Rules and Bylaws Committee should vote, but gives context from the party’s charter and bylaws for the committee to consider.

Source: ap.google.com via politisite

The Clinron Letter (source confidential)

Senator Barack Obama

Obama for America
P.O. Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680

Dear Senator Obama,

This has been an historic and exciting campaign. Millions of new voters have been brought into the process and their enthusiasm for the Democratic Party and the principles for which you and I have fought and continue to fight is unprecedented.

One of the foremost principles of our party is that citizens be allowed to vote and that those votes be counted. That principle is not currently being applied to the nearly 2.5 million people who voted in primaries in Florida and Michigan. Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will be hamstrung in the general election if a fair and quick resolution is not reached that ensures that the voices of these voters are heard. Our commitment now to this goal could be the difference between winning and losing in November.

I have consistently said that the votes cast in Florida and Michigan in January should be counted. We cannot ignore the fact that the people in those states took the time to be a part of this process and to make their preferences known. When efforts were untaken by leaders in those states to hold revotes to ensure that they had a voice in selecting our nominee, I supported those efforts. In Michigan, I supported a legislative effort to hold a revote that the Democratic National Committee said was in complete compliance with the party’s rules. You did not support those efforts and your supporters in Michigan publically opposed them. In Florida a number of revote options were proposed. I am not aware of any that you supported. In 2000, the Republicans won an election by successfully opposing a fair counting of votes in Florida. As Democrats, we must reject any proposals that would do the same.

Your commitment to the voters of these states must be clearly stated and your support for a fair and quick resolution must be clearly demonstrated.

I am asking you to join me in working with representatives from Florida and Michigan and the Democratic National Committee to arrive at a solution that honors the votes of the millions of people who went to the polls in Florida and Michigan. It is not enough to simply seat their representatives at the convention in Denver. The people of these great states, like the people who have voted and are to vote in other states, must have a voice in selecting our party’s nominee.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Prior to the May 31 Meeting the New York Times leaked some of the compromise Democrats Are Advised to Seat Half of 2 States’ Delegations

The rules committee of the Democratic National Committee meets on Saturday to determine whether to seat the delegates from these states, which were penalized for holding early primaries.

In asking that the full delegations from these states be seated, Mrs. Clinton hopes to narrow Senator Barack Obama’s delegate edge and make the case that by including the votes from these states, she will have more of the popular vote in the nominating contests, an assertion that has come under some dispute. But the party’s legal analysis, contained in a 38-page memo to the committee, says the committee can either seat only 50 percent of the delegates or seat them all but give them only half a vote, which amounts to the same thing.

Source: nytimes.com via politisite