When is the date of Florida’s
Democratic Presidential Preference Primary?
January 29, 2008. Interestingly, absentee voters in Florida could be
the first in the nation to cast ballots in the entire 2008 primary
process. Though the results will not be released until the night of
January 29, 2008, Floridians can begin casting absentee ballots on
Christmas Day 2007 – nine days before the Iowa caucuses.
Early Primary Calendar (through Feb. 5, 2008)
Dec. 25, 2007 | Absentee voting begins in Florida Primary |
Dec. 31, 2007 | Last day to register to vote in Florida Primary |
Jan. 3, 2008 | Iowa Caucuses; Absentee voting begins in Arizona Primary |
Jan. 5, 2008 | Wyoming GOP Caucuses (delegates reduced by 50%); Absentee voting begins in New Mexico Primary |
Jan. 7, 2008 | Absentee voting begins in California Primary |
Jan. 8, 2008 | New Hampshire Primary (GOP delegates reduced by 50%) |
Jan. 14, 2008 | Early voting begins in Florida and Illinois Primaries |
Jan. 15, 2008 | Michigan Primary (Dem. delegates reduced by 100%, GOP by 50%); Absentee voting begins in Connecticut Primary |
Jan. 16, 2008 | Early voting begins in Tennessee Primary |
Jan. 19, 2008 | South Carolina GOP Primary (delegates reduced by 50%); Nevada Caucuses |
Jan. 22, 2008 | Early voting begins in Utah Primary |
Jan. 26, 2008 | South Carolina Dem. Primary |
Jan. 28, 2008 | Early voting begins in Louisiana Primary |
Jan. 29, 2008 | Florida Primary |
Jan. 31, 2008 | Early voting begins in Arizona Primary |
Feb. 1, 2008 | Maine GOP Caucuses |
Feb. 5, 2008 | More than 20 states vote (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho Dem, Illinois, Kansas Dem, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico Dem, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, possibly more) |
Some are calling the Florida
Primary a “beauty contest” and saying the results “essentially won’t
count.” Should Democrats vote that day?
YES. All Democrats should vote on January 29. Even if the vote is not
recognized by the DNC, the choice of Florida voters’ for the Democratic
presidential nominee will make waves in the media across the country,
just a week before the all-important February 5th – a date some are
calling “Tsunami Tuesday” because so many states are holding their
primaries that day. Additionally, there are important municipal
elections as well as a constitutional property tax amendment on the
ballot that day as well. Turnout is crucial.
Who sets the date for Florida’s
Primary?
The state-run Presidential Preference Primary date is set by the
Florida Legislature. In the 2007 legislative session, the Republican
Speaker of the House made it a priority to move up the Primary to
January, in violation of both Democratic and Republican National
Committee Rules. The Legislature passed the bill, which also included
the new requirement that all Florida elections have a paper trail
starting in 2008. Governor Charlie Crist signed the bill into law in
May.
So what's all the fuss about?
Florida, like every other state, is required to submit a “Delegate
Selection Plan for the 2008 Democratic National Convention” to the
Democratic National Committee (DNC) explaining how and when the state
will pick and apportion its delegates for the presidential nominating
process. Florida has 210 delegates. We submitted our Plan earlier this
year, and the DNC found it to be in non-compliance with DNC Rules
because our state-run Primary date does not comply with the schedule
ordered by the DNC’s rules. Therefore, they have issued a 100%
reduction of our delegates to the national convention.
Why didn’t the Florida Democratic
Party follow the Rules?
Florida’s Primary date, as determined by state law, violates one part
of the Rules because it comes before February 5, 2008. The DNC only
allows Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina to go before
February 5, but Florida law set ours for January 29. The DNC
Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) is the only body that can grant final
approval of the Delegate Selection Plan, but the Credentials Committee
of the Democratic National Convention, which will be formed next year,
decides who actually attends the Convention.
The DNC says that Florida could
have applied to hold an early primary when it was developing the
calendar, but didn’t. Why not?
In Florida, the Legislature is controlled by Republicans. Democrats
must prioritize what they work on to achieve the best they can for
Floridians. An early primary was never a priority for Democrats, who
remain far more concerned with issues such as insurance reform,
increased healthcare for children, and improving our schools.
The Rules say you had to try to
stop the primary move, but Democrats voted for the law. What gives?
Initially, before a specific date had been decided upon by the
Republicans, some Democrats did actively support the idea of moving
earlier in the calendar year. That changed when Speaker Rubio
announced he wanted to break the Rules of the Democratic and Republican
National Committees. Following this announcement, DNC and Florida
Democratic Party staff talked about the possibility that our primary
date would move up in violation of Rule 11.A.
Party leaders, Chairwoman Thurman and members of Congress then lobbied Democratic members of the Legislature through a variety of means to prevent the primary from moving earlier than February 5th. Party leadership and staff spent countless hours discussing our opposition to and the ramifications of a pre-February 5th primary with legislators, former and current Congressional members, DNC members, DNC staff, donors, activists, county leaders, media, legislative staff, Congressional staff, municipal elected officials, constituency leaders, labor leaders and counterparts in other state parties. In response to the Party’s efforts, Senate Democratic Leaders Geller and Wilson and House Democratic Leaders Gelber and Cusack introduced amendments to CS/HB 537 to hold the Presidential Preference Primary on the first Tuesday in February, instead of January 29th. These were both defeated by the overwhelming Republican majority in each house.
The primary bill, which at this point had been rolled into a larger legislation train, went to a vote in both houses. It passed almost unanimously. The final bill contained a whole host of elections legislation, much of which Democrats did not support. However, in legislative bodies, the majority party can shove bad omnibus legislation down the minority’s throats by attaching a couple of things that made the whole bill very difficult, if not impossible, to vote against. This is what the Republicans did in Florida, including a vital provision to require a paper trail for Florida elections. There was no way that any Florida Democratic Party official or Democratic legislative leader could ask our Democratic members, especially those in the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, to vote against a paper trail for our elections. It would have been embarrassing, futile, and, moreover, against Democratic principles.
Who cares about the paper trail?
Floridians do. Our state has had far too many election controversies. A
verifiable paper trail for elections is something Democrats have fought
for since the election debacle of 2000. It is a groundbreaking change
in a state that has no standardized voting and a long record of
disastrous elections. In fact, the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) continues to investigate Florida’s District 13 Congressional
election in which touch-screen voting machines lost 18,000 ballots in
the most Democratic part of the district - putting a Republican in
Congress by less than 400 votes, instead of an accomplished Democratic
woman who worked her way from bank teller to bank president before
running for Congress.
Why can’t you just change the
primary date?
Unfortunately, Florida Democrats are outnumbered almost 2 to 1 in the
Legislature. They are an extremely hard-working and committed group,
but to change a law that the Speaker of the House has made a priority
is nearly impossible.
Some Florida Democrats are using
the word ‘disenfranchisement.’ What do they mean by that? How exactly
would a caucus disenfranchise voters? Isn’t that too strong a word?
Florida Democrats are extremely concerned about the potential for
disenfranchisement, which is the term used to refer to the act of
inhibiting the right to vote. For minorities and women in particular,
it has historical significance because those groups were often told
they could not vote, either directly or by tying certain criteria to
the right to vote, such as a poll tax or a literacy test. Modern-day
disenfranchisement includes action such as a tactic called “caging,”
which is the illegal use of mailing lists to cut voters from the rolls
so when they show up on Election Day, they cannot vote. The Republican
Party of Florida and the 2004 Bush-Cheney Campaign are currently being
investigated based on evidence that emerged recently showing that they
conducted caging in Duval County in 2004 to block Democrats from
voting.
What about the property tax
reform constitutional amendment the Republicans are pushing?
In addition to the presidential primary vote, the Republican-controlled
Legislature scheduled a ballot question on a constitutional amendment
that will force drastic cuts in 2008-09 to local budgets that are
already being cut in the upcoming budget. The amendment stands to slash
local services like libraries and community centers and cut literally
thousands of jobs at the municipal level – including firefighters,
police, teachers, and others. While the Party does not generally take
official positions on ballot initiatives, it encourages all voters to
take a careful and serious look at the impact the cuts will have on
their localities before they vote on this initiative.
And the municipal elections?
On January 29, the ballot will also include numerous municipal
elections. While Florida Democrats did better in 2006, picking up two
Congressional seats – would have been a third were it not for 18,000
missing votes in District 13 – electing the first Democratic Cabinet
member since 1998, taking back eight Republican-held House seats, and
winning the Hispanic vote for the first time since 1976, we still have
a long way to go to take back the majority here. We have worked hard to
build our bench, but Republicans will turnout in big numbers on January
29th, even though they have a weak slate of Presidential candidates.
Florida Democrats must turn out in full force to vote on January 29th
so we can continue to elect strong and responsible elected officials at
the municipal level.
What about the Four-State Pledge?
Does this mean the presidential candidates are not coming to the state
convention?
Many people are asking about the so-called “Four State Pledge” – the
effort by the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South
Carolina to maintain their privileged positions of influence in the
nominating process. Also, the
four early states informed the Florida Democratic Party that they
would not allow the Presidential candidates to campaign in Florida even
if we held an alternative process. We obviously don’t support this, but
it is the hand we have been dealt. (Read three
different versions of the infamous “Four State Pledge”) In reality,
because of the hyper-importance of Iowa and New Hampshire in the 2008
Democratic race, our candidates likely would not have been able to
spend much time anywhere else other than for fundraising. Rest assured,
we’ll see the Democratic nominee – the next President of the United
States of America – early and often during the general election.
What about the delegate selection
process? Why still go through with the process if the DNC isn’t giving
Florida any delegates?
Although the DNC has said it will not recognize delegates from Florida,
the Party plans to appeal to the eventual Democratic nominee for
President to be seated at the Convention. Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
the Chair of the 2008 National Convention, and DNC Chairman Howard Dean
both confirmed that this does not minimize the importance and impact of
the vote on January 29th. With this in mind, the Party will continue
the delegate selection process to elect the actual delegates to the
Democratic National Convention and will use the results of the January
29th Presidential Preference Primary to determine the apportionment of
those delegates.
Why didn’t the DNC assign hotel
rooms to Florida?
We technically have no delegates at this time. However, when the
nominee overrules the DNC and restores our delegation, we will have
some of the 17,000 hotel rooms assigned to us.
Can a presidential candidate
remove their name from the ballot in Florida?
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Thurman, Senator Geller and
Representative Gelber submitted to Florida’s Secretary of State the
names of our Party’s presidential candidates for placement on the
January 29, 2008 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary ballot.
State law allows candidates who wish to withdraw from the Florida
primary to do so by filing an affidavit stating that he or she is not a
candidate for President of the United States of America. In other
words: to get off the ballot in Florida, a candidate has to swear that
he or she isn’t running for President.
What is going on with the
lawsuits?
The one lawsuit filed against the Florida Democratic Party has been
thrown out. The Party is not involved in any other lawsuit.