Hispanic group sues GOP over Florida primary sanctions

As Republicans go to the polls in Florida to pick their presidential preference, the Hillsborough Hispanic Coalition is asking a federal court to rule that the party's primary system discriminates against Latinos.

The coalition has filed a lawsuit against the Republican National Committee and its chairman asking a judge to decide whether the party's decision to cut the Florida delegation in half is unconstitutional and a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

The party is slashing the size of the state's delegation – from 99 to 50 - to the Republican National Convention as a sanction for moving up the date of the presidential primary election.

The punishment is provided for under rules agreed to by both national parties forbidding any state except the traditional four early ones - Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - from holding a primary or caucus before March 1.

Seeking more influence on the nomination process, Gov. Rick Scott, state Senate President Mike Haridopolos and state House Speaker Dean Cannon appointed a committee that chose to set Florida's primary for Jan. 31. That caused other states, including the four early states, to move up as well.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Tampa, alleges the scheduling of the primaries discriminates against Hispanics, who are under-represented in the early primary states.

"The racial demographics of the early voting states often overlook issues that strongly affect Hispanic Americans," the lawsuit states. "As a result of the agenda-setting function of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, presidential candidates often stake out positions that are contrary to the positions supported by Hispanic American voters.

"For example, in the 2012 election cycle, the Republican presidential primary candidates staked out hard-line positions regarding undocumented persons in the United States, which may have been popular in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, but not necessarily popular or even unpopular in Florida."

In addition to the Hillsborough Hispanic Coalition, the lawsuit is being brought by Ralph A. Emmanuelli, described as a "citizen and a registered Republican voter" from Pinellas County who founded UNO Federation Community Services, which is "committed to integrating Hispanics as well as other disadvantaged citizens into the American mainstream by providing leadership training and needed services."

The plaintiffs have scheduled a news conference later today to discuss the lawsuit.

RNC rules also allow the delegation from a state that commits a violation of its scheduling rules to be penalized in the selection of their hotel accommodations, the prominence of their floor-seating location, and the guest and VIP passes distributed to delegates by the party.

Victor Dimaio, vice chairman of the Hillsborough Hispanic Coalition, sued the Democratic National Committee in 2008 over that party's decision to ban the state's delegation from its convention in response to early scheduling of the primary that year.

That lawsuit charged reverse discrimination, alleging the party allowed South Carolina and Nevada to hold primaries in January, along with Iowa and New Hampshire, because of their large numbers of black and Latino voters. The Democrats had announced plans to sanction Florida for moving up its primary.

That lawsuit was dismissed, but the DNC later seated the state's entire delegation at the convention.