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Democrats in Florida Are Near Plan for New Vote
By Abby Goodnough
The New York Times
Wednesday 12 March 2008
Tallahassee, Fla. - Democratic Party officials here are close to completing
a draft plan for a new mail-in primary that would take place by early June,
a proposal that seeks to give Florida delegates a role in the party's
presidential contest, several people involved in the discussions said Tuesday.
A spokesman for Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat who has been pushing for a
mail-in contest, said Mr. Nelson expected the Florida Democratic Party to finalize
details of the complex plan as soon as Wednesday. The state party would most
likely submit the proposal to Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National
Committee, by week's end, said the spokesman, Dan McLaughlin. Mr. Nelson
is a supporter of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
"Unless Howard Dean changes his mind and seats the Florida delegation
as apportioned by the January primary," Mr. McLaughlin said, "this
is the most fair and inclusive way to allow Floridians to have their voices
heard."
But after meeting with Mr. Nelson on Tuesday night, Florida's Democratic
members of the House of Representatives added a serious new wrinkle by announcing
they were unanimously opposed to a mail-in contest. They did not elaborate,
but released a statement that said, "Our House delegation is opposed to
a mail-in campaign or any redo of any kind." The statement also said the
delegation was committed to working with state and national Democrats and the
two candidates "to reach an expedited solution that ensures our 210 delegates
are seated."
After Florida Democrats defied national party rules by holding their presidential
primary on Jan. 29, the party stripped the state - and Michigan, which
also flouted the rules with an early primary - of delegates to the nominating
convention. Now, with Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois battling
for every state, Democratic lawmakers in Tallahassee and Washington -
most of whom support Mrs. Clinton - want to find a way for their delegates
to count.
Neither candidate campaigned here leading up to Jan. 29, but Mrs. Clinton decisively
won the primary. Her campaign would not comment on the idea of a mail-in contest
Tuesday, but it would almost certainly benefit her. Even if it would not help
her surpass Mr. Obama in the national delegate count, a sanctioned victory in
Florida, a large and important swing state, could help persuade uncommitted
superdelegates to support her.
Mr. Obama's campaign has expressed strong reservations about a mail-in
primary. Appearing on "Hardball" with Chris Matthews on MSNBC on
Tuesday night, Mr. Obama said it would be important "to figure out whether
this was fraud-proof."
Allan Katz, a superdelegate from Tallahassee who supports Mr. Obama, said the
plan was "delusional" given the tight time frame, the state's
lack of experience with mail-in balloting and its history of voting troubles.
"The likelihood of this being pulled off without lawsuits galore is,
I think, very remote," he said. "They have no chance of doing this
right; only the chance of another election fiasco in Florida."
Under the plan being finalized, most of the state's roughly four million
registered Democrats would receive mail ballots in early May and the vote would
be counted in early June, after each voter's signature was verified. The
party would run the contest, said Mark Bubriski, a state party spokesman, but
would pay the state to authenticate ballot signatures. The party would then
pay a private firm to count the votes, Mr. Bubriski said.
Others continued to voice concerns about the cost of a mail-in primary, which
party officials say could be $8 million. Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican, has
said the state cannot afford to foot the bill, and State Representative Dan
Gelber, the House minority leader, said finding the money would be a formidable
challenge.
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John M. Broder contributed reporting from Washington.
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