A Democratic Do-Over in Florida Is Unlikely

Posted by Richard Blair, The All Spin Zone at 12:34 PM on March 13, 2008.

It's looking increasingly like the proposed do-over of the Democratic Party presidential primary is DOA. There have been several proposals batted around, the latest of which is a mail in ballot type of affair. The Dem chairperson in Florida appears to be concerned about the sheer logistics of conducting such a vote:

The head of Florida's Democratic Party said Thursday the proposed vote-by-mail presidential primary is unlikely to go forward because of strong opposition and concerns about conducting the vote...

...[Karen] Thurman will review comments from Democratic leaders and make a decision by Monday on whether to proceed with the re-vote. But she acknowledged that Obama has had concerns and the Democratic National Committee won't support a proposal unless both candidates also back it. She said there's a serious question over whether the state could legally verify the signatures of a privately run election.

"If this becomes something that we can't do, then we can't do it," Thurman said...

When I first heard of the proposal, my thoughts were: ripe for fraud and ballot box stuffing. After all, it would be exceedingly difficult to verify and validate every single one of more than a million-plus ballots.

On the other hand, even if it took days (or weeks) to validate and count, this type of a primary might just be the ultimate in voter enfranchisement. Florida Dems would be able to take some time in casting their votes, and it's probable that doing it this way would result in a huge turnout.

Regardless, there are some excellent reasons why the Florida Democratic Party delegation should be seated (and their votes count) at the upcoming convention in Denver. Let's not forget that it wasn't the Dems in the Fla. state legislature who proposed and approved the shifting of the primaries to Feb. 5th, in defiance of DNC rules. The GOP forced the date on Dems. Mary Beth Williams has the details at Wampum, and makes an excellent argument for why a re-vote should happen, no matter how it takes place.

Tagged as: florida, dnc, democratic party, obama, clinton

Richard Blair is the blogmaster of All Spin Zone.