Consensus Nears For Mail-In Revote In Florida

AP via Los Angeles Times:

A consensus began to emerge today that the best way to give Florida's Democrats a voice in electing a candidate for president lies with the U.S. Postal Service.

The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida and Michigan of all their convention delegates -- a total of 313 -- for holding their primaries too early, making both contests meaningless. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won both states, but no delegates. Her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, did not appear on Michigan's ballot.

But the disqualification of Florida and Michigan has created a headache for the Democratic party due to the unexpected closeness of the race between Obama and Clinton. Officials from both states are trying to figure out how best to resolve the issue before the national convention in August.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean said a mail-in primary is "actually a very good process."

"Every voter gets a ballot in the mail," the former Vermont governor said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "It's comprehensive, you get to vote if you're in Iraq or in a nursing home. It's not a bad way to do this."

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Read the whole story: AP via Los Angeles Times

Comments

[dajay]

Newsflash: The votes from both those states should count. Especially Florida. If Mr. Obama can't win Florida in a Dem nomination, that doesn't bode well for him in November.

[JavaCityGal]

Everyone in Florida knew that their vote wouldn't count and many didn't bother voting. We won't know which candidate would win until it's redone. And why does a candidate HAVE to win Florida to win the general, there are a lot more states that have bigger electoral votes. I"m not following your logic....if there is any.

[ChiGuy]

Newsflashes:

#1 - Obama wasn't even on the ballot in MI. They can't count it unless they split the delegates, or re-vote.

#2 - How Obama would or wouldn't do in a Florida primary would give ZERO indication of how he would do in the general against McCain.

Nice try though.

[rmetz74]

Same old Blah blah blah. Read the Rolling Stone article.

[in4success]

no dem willl EVER win FL in the general election. IT'S FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

zombie: "hillary says it's the big states . . . only the states hillary wins count . . . each voter should have their vote count . . . unless they're in a state that hillary doesn't win . . . america is safer."

WHEW!

[jsinclair]

That's not true. Hillary needs Florida. Obama has several ways he could win--NONE of them rely on Florida.

That said, they still need the chance for a fair vote.

[payingattentionandoutraged]

Sorry, by "he" I was referring., of course, to Obama! Obama '08!!!

[kath1y]

This is OUTRAGEOUS! A mail ballot will effectively disenfranchise poor people, renters, people who lack a firm address...which is undoubtedly what the Democratic party wants....I am never sending another dime to the Democratic National Clintonites...

[Tyrione]

What the hell are you talking about? Anyone who can't go to the courthouse and get themselves an absentee ballot is a moron and doesn't deserve to vote. Every apartment I ever rented from I made sure my voting information reflected that address.

[foughtthelaw]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Of all the re-do possibilities, this is the one that favors Hillary the most. Go figure--in order to get the chance to fight for the poor in the White House, Hillary has to disenfranchise them first.

[bajaboy]

What, Clinton supporters are the only ones who understand the postal system? Or are the only ones who bother to update their voter registration records? If so, then they are the only ones who deserve to be heard!

[treadway123]

Not all voter's have address's. Some vets out on the street use's other means to get mail------they may get a notice to appear for benefits or etc. from family, friends and etc. by useing their residential address's------but a thing like a mail in vote they probally wouldn't bother with. Also, vets with out homes move a lot, and how is a voters registration going to catch up with them in time. Then how will they inform millions an millions of vet , nurseing homes, and others that the changes are in place, and do it in time?. given these facts-------the only fair thing to do is put a election for june or july and give Obama a chance to set up his base and appear at functions so voters can get to know him in those two states. If they can not do it this way-------than don'lt do it at all! After all florid a and Michigan got themself in this mess------get out of it fairly------or be quiet and wait till November to cas your vote. FLORIDA HAS FOULED UP ENOUGH------------WE DON'T NEED THEM TO SCREW UP THE WHOLE AMERICAN ELECTION!

[slr51]

Registered voters have addresses.

You are a very funny troll.

[jeffhas]

What are you talking about?.... Poor people who are registered to vote, register with an address, whether it be a rental home/apartment, or a homeless shelter?

At least this way, retirees who cannot get out of the house often enough, or don't have a ride, or shift workers that can't get off work can now vote.

Absentee ballots have been used for years - this is just the same thing.

Where is the issue?

[Ashall]

I see this as a great way to cheat the system...they mentioned people in nursing homes voting. Who is responsible for filling out the forms? If you aren't on the democratic rolls, you won't get a ballot...right? Do they have all the new names and addresses of those who voted in the first election? I often wonder why it's the secret ballot voters who always win for Hillary whereas when voters have to show up in person to a caucus they go strongly for Obama. I do know that in New York, some precincts came up with zero votes for Obama in black neighborhoods. Shenanigans? You tell me!!

[bajaboy]

You've obviously never been a poll worker, and have very little knowledge about how voter registration works. Even if you are a first-time voter, you must register and provide an address. Now, if someone gave a false address, or engaged in some other form of fraudulent behavior, do you think they should be allowed to be heard? And the votes in those precincts in NY have now been correctly tallied. Do try to keep up, won't you? There were no shenanigans involved in NY, merely old, outdated, obsolete voting machines. NY needs to up0date its system, but it wasn't fraud, just incompetence.

[rh654]

So now in 4 years - everyone will move up their Primary and what will the DNC do?

They will have set a precedent that they won't stand by their own rules.

I can't wait to see what this turns into..........

[rmetz74]

They ARE standing by their own rules. The DNC always said there were recourses for states who broke the rules, and one of them was for the state to figure out a fair alternative to distribute delegates, and find a way to pay for it.

[kevenhussienseven]

What in the hell are you talking about? They have set a perfectly sensible precedent.

Only those contests conducted within the rules will produce valid delegations.

MI and FL have not yet conducted contests within the rules. When they do, they will have delegations.

Or perhaps one in every ten registered Dem in FL and MI should be put to death. Would that suit you?

[88keysme]

Exactly! Let's not forget it was the State Democratic Parties and their legislatures that knew exactly what they were doing and the ramifications. It's not as if the DNC administered some after-the-fact-punishment. The States made the call and knew the consequences. Period. And now the DNC is saying "okay, not really. we were kidding. we can figure something out." that is HOGWASH. it is awful that FL and MI voters haven't had their voice in this primary season, but this is NOT the solution to that. FL and MI voters should take it up with their state reps who chose to disenfranchise their own.

[in4success]

hey . . . they can't stand up to the republicans...how the hell are they going to stand up against the clintons?

[payingattentionandoutraged]

With campaigning time in Florida and Michigan - and with his name actually on the ballot in Michigan - I'll bet you he wins and extends his significant lead even more! The more people get to know him, the more obvious it is that he's the one to beat McCain in November. Don't you think he's likely to bring in a lot of the popular vote and delegates in these two races?

[bitabingbitabangbitaboom]

WTF registered Repukes also get to mail in a vote ????????????????

[kevenhussienseven]

Hey, that is how they do it in FL. If I had my say the only people with a franchise in selecting the nominee of my party would have voted in the last three federal elections and have given 50 hours service to the party in the previous three years.

[jeffhas]

In Michigan their talking ONLY registered Dems - I don;t know about FL.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

No one who voted in the repoublican primary the first time atound should be able to vote in the dem primary in a re-vote. I though we had one person / one vote in this country. Well, except for Texas, where you get to vote twice in the same primary.

[Manni]

Typical of the GOP and Republicans who don't want to count people;s vote.

Remember Florda 7 years ago? ITs the same people who want to disenfranchise the democrats.

Shamle! Shame!

Let all the votes count!

[kevenhussienseven]

What happened in FL seven years ago? A hurricane?

[in4success]

RIGHT ON!

with the exception of the ones coming from states who don't follow the rules, natually.

[frozenporklander]

While a mail-in revote is a good idea, I'm partial to a couple of quick rounds of roshambo and just be done with it. We need to stop fighting with each other up and start beating up McSame and his Straightjacket Express.

[Egghead]

I object on the grounds that roshambo gives an unfair advantage to Sen. Clinton.

Actually, this has been the first laugh I've had on here for a while.

[misspeach2008]

I think if Hillary Clinton wins twice, the votes should count twice.

[ThinMan]

Is anyone concerned that mail-in-ballots present a situation that invites easy fraud?

[jeffhas]

No... Absentee ballots have been used for years with little or no fraud.

[TabysGrandma]

If the county has good records of registered voters there should be no fraud. We have many voting by mail in all our elections for a while.

[SeekerOne]

You had better believe it. The Michigan and Florida governors both want Clinton to win the nomination, for different reasons of course. The likelihood of fraud, error and voter disenfranchisment are very high. Now Rendell, the governor of PA and Clinton supporter, is offering to raise half the money for these "revotes." Something is very rotten.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

States that use mail in, have not had problems. They compare registration signatures if they become concerned. It can slow things down, but democracy is worth waiting for.

[foreffectivegovernment]

Not nearly as much fraud as caucauses do. There can be no arm-twisting and intimidation by paid supporters of one candidate. Only registered Democratic voters will be able to vote for Democratic candidates. What could be more fair than that?

Luckily we have the Super-delegates to compensate for the caucaus system of voting.

[Schnitzel]

Gee, A mail in redo. Absolutely no chance for malfeasense and chinanigans there, is there? So much for the democratic process.

[in4success]

watch out! if you're mean to hillary she'll have the old, white grandma's league call up your sponsors and they'll pull they're ads.

[ChiGuy]

I say bring on the re-votes in both states.

Their primaries were some of the earliest before Obama had the name recognition and momentum he does now.

The results will be VERY different the second time around.

[rmetz74]

Amen.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

well by your logic, shouldn't we just keep re-voting in all the states as more information comes out about each candidate?

[jeffhas]

Or people will be able to fully realize their 'buyer's remorse' like so many Ohioans.

[KQuark]

They should be different but Clinton will get a 4-10 point win and claim the nomination even if she does not win the pledge delegates.

[Idiocracy]

Great.

Another election is rigged by the powers that be.

[foreffectivegovernment]

Helloooo out there! Anyone there? Where are all of the Obama Cultists and Republican Trolls?

Hey Hillary Supporters, We actually have a location where we can discuss the successful strategy the Hillary Clinton campaign is using to win the Democratic nomination. Thank goodness at least 80 of the Super-delegates realized what they were supposed to do.

They finally realized that the United States does not have a true Democracy and that is good. TRUE DEMOCRACY IS 'MOB RULE'. That is one reason our founders established a Representative Government and established checks and balances in elections.

The "Free Democratic Election" in Palestine opened the way for Hamas to get elected. The "Free Democratic Election in Iraq allowed the Sunni majority to rule.

That is why the Superdelegates were formed. Their job is to make sure a mob does not elect a candidate whose supporters are using strong-arm tactics and turning the caucaus process into a mob scene if voter intimidation.

[rosek]

This is crazy. If they really have to seat these delegates, just split them down the middle and divide them equally between the candidates. Is this how Clinton is going to BE ALLOWED to steal the nomination? That seems to be her plan. I thought that she was going to challenge the Dems in Texas, but wait, she won, so she didn't need to. This will definitely make all of the cynics who amazingly came out of the woodworks and were finally inspired to participate in US politics go back to hiding, continuing to believe that no matter what, it is always the SAME GAME....
Thank you Bushies and Clintons

[kevenhussienseven]

Did you read the article?

Oh, and Obama won Texas.

[Xander]

Well, she didn't exactly "win" Texas--she lost the delegate count by 3.

[Ashall]

Exactly!!!

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

just how many states this fall in the general election will have a caucus in the evening after the polls close to allow Obama to go ahead in the vote over McCain?

[SShaw490]

Actually, she narrowly won the popular vote in Texas but lost the caucus, and Obama actually won more delegates (we think, Texas still hasn't finalized their votes). But you're right, the mail-in idea is just designed to swing the nomination toward Hillary. No doubt about it.

[Tyrione]

Actually, she hasn't lost the Caucus. It hasn't been completely tallied and by the map over at CNN it's almost identical to the map for the Primary. Go check it out if you want to know more.

[StephenS]

Actually, Clinton won the Texas popular vote handily - 51% to 47%, with a margin of more than 100,000 votes. Because the much smaller number of people who voted a second time at caucuses on a Tuesday night voted strongly for Obama, Obama will win more delegates despite losing the popular vote by more than 100,000 votes.

[Obama08Supporter]

I agree. It is to give her the nomination and then say to the world, at least you were not disenfranchised, but it will not work. Unless they come to Florida and Michigan, campaign and let us vote as we normally do, it will not set well with the voters. We will not sit back and let this happen to us again, as it did in 2004. We will take this to the doors of the DNC, you watch what happens.

I hope they know what they are doing because I can see that Civil War is in the Air on this one. This is a time bomb, unfortunately. Now, I am not threating anyone, I am just saying what I see is brewing in the air.

S. Florida resident

[jeffhas]

Yeah, because you know all the other state primaries and caucuses ended with a 50/50 tie.

[VOTER]

Conyers of Michigan has suggested splitting the delegates 50-50 between Obama and Clinton.

Fair ( If we are going to have to change the RULES.)

And no extra money needed.

Comes to a WIN-WIN!

Now why will HIllary disagree?

And the funny thing but when all of this disagreeing was going on between the Dem Party

and Michigan and Florida, I seem to recall she was in favor of the Party Rules applying.

Hmmmmmmmm

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

having a revote does not require changing any rules. I wish people who don't actually know what the rules of the dem party are would stop posting about rules.

There have always been 2 options for these two states to pursue to get their delegation seated.

1. Make an appeal to the credentials committee
2. Create a new plan for selecting delegates and submit it to the DNC for approval

A re-vote falls with rule number 2.

THis was all very clearly explained by Howard Dean last week. I realize Huffpo probably didn't highlight this information because it doesn't reall y favor Obama. But, it's still true.

Now please shut up about changing the rules.