Florida delegates sue DNC over primary votes...again...and again..

[madfloridian]

Florida delegates sue DNC over primary votes

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- Three Florida delegates, including the state's Senate Democratic leader have filed a federal lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee claiming the DNC violated their constitutional rights by barring them from the party's national convention.

"This litigation addresses the view of Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee that 1.75 million Democrats can be ignored at will,” said Geller. “We believe we’ve found a winning legal strategy that will once and for all force the DNC to not only obey its own rules but to listen to the voices of millions of Democrats in one of the most influential states in the nation.”

The lawsuit claims there are rules which the DNC is obliged to follow but did not, along with certain U.S. Constitutional rights the veteran state lawmaker and party super delegate contends are being violated.

The litigation takes aim at three essential issues:

The DNC broke its own rules by not investigating the events that led to Florida's ealy vote before punishing the state.

Even though Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina also broke the same party rules by moving up their primaries, they were not sanctioned as Florida was, but were instead granted a waiver by the DNC from any such penalties.

As the controversy unfolded, the DNC maintained that Florida should have held a post-primary Caucus. Doing so, Geller argued, likely would have resulted in only about 100,000 votes being counted, a tiny fraction of the 1.75 million voters who turned out in January, while at the same time, completely disenfranchising Florida Democrats in our country’s military serving outside of Florida.

That would be THIS Steve Geller...the "bramble bush" guy??

Geller mocks own amendment

Or THIS Steve Geller who threatened the DNC with mutually assured destruction.

Why the hell not wait for the May 31 meeting?

Don't they know there is another one pending..accusing the DNC of discriminating against white people in Florida?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. Eat us! Hey, it's Thanksgiving Day! Eat us, we make a nice buffet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIufyg09WnQ

Eat us! Hey, its Thanksgiving Day!
Eat us, we make a nice buffet!
We lost the race with Farmer Ed,
eat us 'cause we're good and dead.
White man or red man from east, north or south,
chop off our legs, and put 'em in your mouth!

Eat me!
Sautéed or barbecued!
Eat me!
We once were pets but now we're food!
We won't stay fresh for very long!
So eat us before we finish this song!
Eat us before we finish this song!

[BattyDem]

2. Didn't they already lose in court?

I'm having trouble keeping up with their BS, but I thought they already sued ... and lost. :shrug:

On edit: Since when is it a constitutional right to participate at a politcal party's convention?

[madfloridian]

5. Yes, several times.

But who cares? Litigation is so much fun.

[flpoljunkie]

21. Bet there's no mention of the study that showed 1.5million Floridians, 715K Michiganders stayed home

Gregory P. Nini1 and Glenn Hurowitz

13 March 2008 A Problem with Seating the Florida and Michigan

Delegates Based on Existing Primary Results Among the proposed alternatives for seating the delegates from Florida and Michigan is to use the results of the primaries that already happened, based on the argument that doing so would avoid disenfranchising the 1.7 million Floridians and 600,000 Michiganders who already voted. However, doing so would disenfranchise many people from Florida and Michigan who did not vote in the earlier primaries because they did not expect their delegates would be seated at the convention. Based on a statistical comparison with turnout in other states’ primaries, it appears that roughly two million more people would have voted in Florida and Michigan had they expected their delegates to be seated.

This assumption means that Democratic primary voters would have outnumbered Republican primary voters by 3 to 2. With 1.9 million Republican voters in FL and 870,000 Republican voters in MI, Democratic voters should have numbered 2.85 million and 1.305 million in Florida and Michigan, respectively. Given actual numbers of 1.7 million and 590,000, an estimated 1.15 million Floridians and 715,000 Michiganders stayed home on primary day, who otherwise would have voted had they behaved like voters in other states.

http://rethymniotis.mydd.com/story/2008/5/21/142558/911

http://www.dcourage.com/Nini%20-%20Probl em%20with%20Existing%20FL%20and%20MI%20Primaries.pdf

[madfloridian]

24. And here is a summary of Bill Nelson's suit that was dismissed.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1813

I think there will be more filings, causing more anger, costing the DNC more money in a year when the money is needed for the general election the DNC has to run.

[BattyDem]

33. Thanks for the link!

:hi:

I read about it when you first posted it, but it's been so long and so much has happened ... I can't keep track of the details. :crazy:


They just keep filing the same suit over and over again, but each time, they approach it from a different angle. They're just throwing things out there and hoping that something will stick. In the meantime, the DNC is spending money we're going to need for the GE. There's no legitimate reason for this. Even if they're seated as is (which is highly unlikely), she can't win.

It seems to me that this is just a DLC power play. The only way they'll maintain full control of the party is if Dean is forced out and the grassroots get discouraged or fed up enough to walk away. When average people weren't involved and candidates relied on their loyal, big money donors, they could do whatever they wanted because no one was making them answer for their actions. Now people are engaged in the political process, they're paying attention to the details and they're taking control of the Democratic party. Obama thinks that's great, but Clinton and the DLC know their power is threatened, so their only option is to turn people against Obama, Dean and the DNC.

I just can't believe this is happening in a year that we should be coasting to the WH. We had the "perfect storm" to get a Democrat elected ... and our party is at war with itself! :banghead:

[mikelgb]

3. fuck you Florida

[iamthebandfanman]

4. aw , not all of florida

just the whiney babys at the hillary camp.

[Crazy Dave]

10. And it's not the voters

They go to the polls on the day they're told to with other bullshit on the ballot. It's the decision makers that always fuck it up for everybody not the voters.
The voters of Florida chose Al Gore but the secretary of state and the supreme court chose Bush.

[CatsDogsBabies]

11. Can the voters bring a class action suit against whoever

in FL broke the rules?

[Crazy Dave]

13. Sure but the Supreme Court will always over rule or dismiss them n/t

[madfloridian]

26. You never know about this supreme court.

[rocktivity]

6. These "three stooges" should be suing the Dems who moved the primary date

THEY'RE the ones who disenfranchised and ignored the 1.75 million of you!

By the way, they haven't been barred yet--at least wait until after the May 31 meeting.

:headbang:
rocknation

[iamthebandfanman]

8. or they could just not reelect

any of the a-holes responsible... but oh no... wouldnt want to solve this democratic way. lets whine and complain and stomp our feet super loud... and then lets blame everyone BUT the people responsible !

[rateyes]

18. Those are the stooges who moved them.

They'd have to sue themselves.

[madfloridian]

7. They don't name the other two delegates?

?

[bluestateguy]

9. Courts don't get involved in primaries

The last time that happened, I think, was in 1944 when the USSC banned the all-white party primary.

[bunnies]

12. Again?

Didnt they already try this once?

[madfloridian]

14. Yes, over and over and over...it's groundhog day.

all over again.

[bunnies]

15. Unreal.

I just dont even know what to say anymore. sigh.

[madfloridian]

16. I hate to think this is coincidental...so I won't.

Clinton Camp Taking Hard-Line Stance On Fla., Mich., Delegates

I am sure one has nothing to do with the other.

Why not save all the lawsuits until after the May 31 meeting?

[dana_b]

28. how else can she stay in the news and stay relevant?

McCain isn't talking to her. Obama doesn't appear to be talking to her. This is it.

[madfloridian]

32. You may be right.

and that is sad.

[MattP]

17. This is like the third time

How many times can you sue over the same thing?

[madfloridian]

34. Might be the fourth.

Not sure how to count one that is filed twice.

[baldguy]

19. There's no Constitutional right to be a member of a political party.

And the threshold to be a member is rather low. All one needs to do is declare oneself to be a member - and follow the party's rules.

Florida didn't do that.

[whistler162]

20. So did they name ex-President Clinton in the

lawsuit?

[madfloridian]

22. Still looking for the other two names

And wondering why they could not wait until after May 31

[madfloridian]

23. Here are the other two names.

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/05/19/daily33.html

"Three prominent Broward County Democrats filed a federal lawsuit Thursday morning against the Democratic National Committee, seeking to force the committee to seat Florida's delegates at the upcoming presidential nomination convention.

The DNC could not immediately be reached for comment.

The suit was filed by state Sen. Steven Geller, an attorney for Greenspoon Marder in Fort Lauderdale; Barbara Effman, president of the Democratic Club in Broward County; and Percy Johnson, a convention delegate.

The suit alleges that the committee failed to "treat equally all similarly situated states and Democratic voters" when it decided not to seat Florida delegates because the state moved up its primary date against party rules. The suit also claims the committee's actions violated "due process" because the sanctions against Florida "flow from a constitutionally inadequate process that implements DNC rules in an arbitrary manner." "

[madfloridian]

25. Kicking.

.

[madfloridian]

27. Another suit based on civil rights and discrimination against African Americans.

So now we have one person suing because Florida's white voters are being discriminated against.

AND Geller suing for the discrimination against black voters in Florida.

Guys, it was really just about having rules.

http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/05/democrats-from-florida-file-suit.html

"According the federal lawsuit, Geller's argument is that, "Florida's history of discrimination against African Americans should force the national Democratic Party to count all of the state's delegates at its national convention."

The Civil Rights-era law requires the U.S. Justice Department to approve any significant voting change in Florida to make sure it doesn't disenfranchise minority voters. Geller argues that includes the Democratic National Committee's demand that Florida switch ''from a state-run primary to party-run caucus system'' to avoid losing its delegates.

''The purpose of this lawsuit is not to support one candidate over another; it's to enforce one of the most basic tenets of our democracy: Count the votes as they were cast,'' Geller said in announcing the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed by Geller's law firm, Greenspoon Marder, Miami lawyer Ben Kuehne and Dan Stengle of Hopping Green & Sams in Tallahassee and it asserts that the DNC is in violation of "constitutional protection on equal application of the law and a federal law that requires parties to write their own rules and then follow them."

[anigbrowl]

29. Uuuuh...we want Hillary to get her delegates because black people don't get a fair shake?

:wtf:

This is getting surreal. It's like opposing Brown v. Board of Education because you're concerned about blacks getting lynched if they go to a white school.

[madfloridian]

30. Oh, no, that is just one. The other says Dean is prejudiced against whites here.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/2024

Really, it does say that.

[JeffR]

31. I read over to the DU that this Obama feller wants to disenfranchise

Florida and Michigan. Oh, what to believe???!?!?!?

K & R.