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Key Democrats To Get Draft Of Revote Plan

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By WILLIAM MARCH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 13, 2008

TAMPA - The state Democratic Party continued to move toward setting a mail-in revote in its presidential primary, as a vehement public debate involving both campaigns and most top state party leaders erupted Wednesday.

Late Wednesday, state party chairwoman Karen Thurman sent a 5-page draft of a plan to state party leaders, as well as to Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean.

"It is the only option that has been presented to me that offers Florida voters a voice in the nominating process," Thurman said, asking for their opinions by the end of the day Friday. "The party cannot and will not move forward without your support."

Some state party leaders, plus Clinton and many but not all of her supporters, argued earlier in the day that a mail-in revote is the only acceptable option if Florida's national convention delegation can't be seated based on the Jan. 29 primary.

Obama and most of his partisans argued that a mail-in vote would be unfair and infeasible.

They got support in a unanimous statement Tuesday night by the nine Florida Democrats in the U.S. House, who include four Clinton supporters. That put them on the opposite side of the issue from the state's senior Democratic elected official, Sen. Bill Nelson, also a Clinton backer.

State party leaders, meanwhile, released a poll Wednesday that showed 59 percent of state Democrats favoring a revote.

Another finding, which pollster Jim Kitchens called "stunning," was that a quarter of the respondents - all Democrats who voted in the Jan. 29 primary - said they were upset enough over the issue to consider not voting or voting Republican in November's presidential race.

Kitchens said that could spell trouble for a Democratic candidate in Florida.

Democratic state Senate Leader Steve Geller said the poll provided the "moral authority" for the party to move ahead with its plans.

The state party continued to bring those plans closer to concrete form Wednesday, even though spokesman Mark Bubriski said no decision has been made about whether to implement it.

Party leaders have said the plan has to be sent to the national Democratic Party today to accommodate time constraints involved in approval of the plan and holding the election.

Asked whether the congressional statement would halt the process, Bubriski called it a "serious concern," but said he hopes the Congress members will consider the plan when it's complete.

'Most Practical And Fair'

Nelson, the leading advocate of a revote, emphasized that he would prefer to see Florida's national convention delegates seated based on the Jan. 29 primary, but that a lawsuit he filed to achieve that failed.

A mail vote is now "the most practical and fair way to let Florida voters have a full say in the selection of their Democratic nominee," he said.

"If anyone has another way of accomplishing this ... it needs to be put on the table - and now, before it's too late."

The Democratic National Committee has said it won't seat Florida delegates at the national convention - in effect not counting the state's Jan. 29 primary vote, which allocated those delegates - because the too-early vote broke party rules.

The DNC also penalized Michigan, which voted Jan. 15.

Florida delegates could be seated if they were chosen under a new vote held now.

Clinton, who won both states' primaries and would gain a 38-delegate advantage if the Florida result was counted, sent a letter to the Obama campaign Wednesday saying the campaigns should agree on a way to resolve the issue.

"We think the results of those primaries were fair and should be honored," she said. "There are two options: Either honor the results or hold new primary elections."

Obama repeatedly has rejected honoring the results, saying they weren't fair because all the major candidates except Clinton withdrew their names from the Michigan ballot, and that all the candidates pledged not to campaign in Florida.

In the poll of 600 Democratic primary voters, with a 4-point error margin, 59 percent said they favored a revote paid for by the party, while 35 percent said the current delegation should go to the convention and seek to be seated.

Asked whether the situation would affect their votes if it weren't resolved, 63 percent said no.

But 14 percent said they would consider voting Republican, 11 percent said they might not vote or might skip the presidential race, and 12 percent said they weren't sure.

"That's the base" of the party's support, Kitchens said. "It's a stunning finding."

Geller, who said he hasn't taken sides in the race, said he was worried about whether the state party had the "moral authority" to "order an election redo to satisfy the demands from the DNC in Washington. "This poll finally answers my question."

Geller said he hopes once the congressional members are fully briefed on the final plan, "they will not have the same opposition."

House Delegation Opposes Redo

The brief statement from the House delegation, e-mailed to reporters just after 10 p.m. Tuesday, didn't give reasons, but suggested details of the plan don't matter: "Our House delegation is opposed to a mail-in campaign or any redo of any kind."

Four members - Corinne Brown of Jacksonville, Alcee Hastings of Miramar, Kendrick Meek of Miami and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston - back Clinton.

Kathy Castor of Tampa and Robert Wexler of Boca Raton back Obama. Allen Boyd of Monticello, Ron Klein of Boca Raton and Tim Mahoney of Palm Beach Gardens are uncommitted.

Wasserman Schultz said Wednesday one of her main concerns about a mail vote would be winter visitors and poor people, who change addresses often.

"The chances of their ballot finding them are much smaller," she said, creating unfairness.

She denied that she's siding against Clinton on the issue.

"There may be other ways to reach consensus and get to what we all agree on," she said.

Democrats have a June 10 deadline to choose delegates to the national convention in late August.

The Florida Democrats' plan estimates the cost to be $10 million to $12 million, depending on the fees charged by the accounting firm hired by the party to supervise the vote.

According to the plan, ballot-counting day would be June 3. Ballots for Florida residents would go out May 9, while overseas military ballots would be mailed on April 19.

Voters could get information, replacement ballots, vote in person or drop off ballots at 50 temporary regional election offices that will be set up in disadvantaged communities throughout the state.

Ballots can't be forwarded to voters whose addresses have changed, but if a ballot was returned, the voter would be sent a postcard with a request for forwarding, and instructions to call a telephone hot line, the plan says.

Besides the hot line, there would be a Web site to provide help, and probably about 50 sites for in-person voting.

Bubriski said the party hasn't sought donors yet, but has received offers of financial contributions from Clinton and Obama backers.

Reporter Russell Ray contributed to this report. Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com.

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