Challenge of the Michigan Democratic Party: Michigan's Entire 157-
Member Delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention Should

Be Seated at Full Voting Strength, With the Pledged Delegates Allocated

69 for Hillary Clinton and 59 for Barack Obama

Statement of Facts

1. On August 30, 2007, the Michigan Legislature approved a January 15, 2008 presidential primary date. The Governor signed the legislation.

2. The Michigan Democratic Party decided to use that primary to allocate its delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

3. On or about December 3, 2007, the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), through its Co-Chairs, informed Mark Brewer, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party that, as a result of its finding of Non-Compliance and violation of timing, the RBC had voted a delegate reduction of 100% of all pledged and unpledged delegates allocated to Michigan.

4. Absent the penalty, Michigan's state delegation would include 128 pledged and 29 unpledged delegates, of whom two are unpledged add-ons.

5. On January 15, 2008, Michigan held its Democratic Presidential primary.

6. Approximately 600,000 voters cast their ballots in the Michigan Democratic Presidential Primary. This compares to the approximately 160,000 who participated in the 2004 presidential process.

7. Hillary Clinton received 55% of the primary vote making her eligible for 73 of Michigan's 128 pledged delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

8. Barack Obama voluntarily withdrew his name from the primary ballot. His and John Edwards supporters organized efforts to cast votes for Uncommitted status which received 40% of the votes cast making it eligible for 55 pledged delegates to the National Convention. 

9. The rest of the candidates on the ballot received a total of 5%.

10. For the reasons stated more fully below and in order to facilitate accommodation of the various interests and competing claims regarding the allocation of pledged delegates to the National Convention, the Executive Committee of the MDP proposes that the apportionment of pledged delegates should be 69 for Hillary Clinton and 59 for Barack Obama. This would reduce Clinton's 73 delegates to which she was entitled under the January 15 primary results to 69.

11. This compromise recognizes and uses in part the results of the January 15 primary to allocate the Michigan delegates.

I. The Entire 157-Member Michigan Delegation Should Be Seated At Full Voting Strength.

"We will fight, we will contest and we will win the state of Michigan. "

                                                                                                            -John McCain

                                                                                                            Rochester Hills, MI

                                                                                                            May 7,2008

Michigan Democrats have already endured a substantial penalty for moving their primary to January 15^th. There have been no visits of any kind by Barack Obama to Michigan since July of 2007, nearly 10 months. Hillary Clinton's few visits during that same period have been almost exclusively private fundraising events.

Further punishment in the form of no Michigan delegation or a reduced Michigan delegation at the National Convention will only aid the Republicans in their effort to win Michigan in November.

Michigan has been and will be a battleground state. There is no Electoral College formula for a Democrat to win the White House which does not include Michigan's 17 electoral votes.

As indicated by the quote above, Republicans intend to contest Michigan. John McCain has made several visits to Michigan, most recently on May 6 and 7. Republicans in the state continually point to the absence of the Democratic candidates and the 100% delegation penalty imposed by the RBC as evidence that Democrats do not care about Michigan and why voters should vote Republican.

Because Michigan Democrats have already suffered a substantial penalty and because further punishment will only hinder efforts to win Michigan for the Democratic nominee in November, the entire 157-member Michigan delegation should be seated at full voting strength.

II. The Pledged Delegates Should Be Allocated 69 For Hillary Clinton And 59 For Barack Obama.

A group of 4 prominent Michigan Democrats - Senator Carl Levin, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and National Committeewoman Debbie Dingell - was asked by Governor Granholm to help resolve the dispute over the seating of the Michigan delegation. The group of 4 came to be known as the Delegate Working Group.

This is their analysis and recommendation as to the allocation of pledged delegates.

The Clinton campaign has taken the position that the results of the January 15 primary should be honored and that Clinton should receive 73 pledged delegates in accordance with the vote she received. The Obama campaign has taken the position that the January 15 primary results should be ignored and that the 128 pledged delegates should be seated but evenly divided between the two candidates.

Both candidates have a basis for their argument. The January 15 primary result was flawed because Obama's name was not on the ballot. He took his name off the ballot. As a result, that Working Group did not totally agree with the Clinton campaign's position that the outcome of the primary should be honored and that the pledged delegates should be apportioned 73/55 (Clinton/Obama).

At the same time, the Working Group did not accept the position of the Obama campaign that the primary should be totally ignored and the pledged delegates should be evenly apportioned 64/64 between the two candidates, given the fact that almost 600,000 Democrats voted in the January 15 primary, 55% of whom voted for Clinton and 45% of whom voted for Uncommitted or other candidates.

Based on this analysis, the Working Group recommended that the pledged delegates be apportioned 69 to Clinton and 59 to Obama. That approach splits the difference between the 73/55 position of the Clinton campaign and the 64/64 position of the Obama campaign, based on the Working Group's belief that both sides have fair arguments about the Michigan primary.

The Executive Committee of the MDP considered this recommendation of the Working Group at its meeting of May 7, 2008 and voted overwhelmingly to endorse it.

III. Remedy

For all these reasons, the Michigan Democratic Party respectfully requests that Michigan's entire 157-member delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention be seated at full voting strength, with the pledged delegates allocated 69 for Hillary Clinton and 59 for Barack Obama.

For the Michigan Democratic Party:

Mark Brewer, Chair                 Joel Ferguson

May 12, 2008