Hillary Clinton wants Florida’s Democratic delegates seated. Barack
Obama Doesn’t. In the middle, 1.72 million democrats who cast a ballot
on January 29. One National Committeeman is now saying that the national party is violating its own rules and bylaws by not seating all 22 Florida super delegates and at least half of the pledged delegates. Jon Ausman will file paperwork to begin a challenge this week.
“The reality is that if the national party follows its own rules, then
we should have 22 super delegates and 91 pledged delegates as well,” says Jon Ausman.
The documents seem clear. Party bylaws call for seating the super
delegates, like U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and nine democratic members of
congress. The documents also spell out that the state should have lost,
at best, only half its delegates.
“Obama is up by roughly 100 delegates and if we counted the Florida
delegates, Hillary Clinton would cut that down by 37,” says Ausman.
Whatever happens will make some democrats unhappy. And the outcome of the election in November may depend on just how angry they become.
If the challenge being filed is successful and Florida does get all its super delegates and half of its elected delegates, Democrats
would be in the same strait as Florida Republicans, who lost half of
their national delegates for holding an early primary.