Sunday, August 24, 2008

Democrats Reinstate Full Delegate Voting Rights For Florida and Michigan

Michigan and Florida were to have been penalized by having only half of their voting rights at the Democratic Convention after moving their primaries forward. They have just been given their full voting rights back after Barack Obama requested it.
On May 31, 2008, the Democratic National Rules and Bylaws Committee made an official ruling that due to Florida and Michigan violating the timing rules of when they held their state primaries, Michigan and Florida would only receive half of their voting rights at the national convention, which was reported on by CNN.

This angered Hillary Clinton supporters and superdelegates immediately started publicly pledging their vote to Obama, in a number sufficient to put him over the number, which then was 2,118, of delegates needed to make him the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Days later Hillary Clinton suspended her presidential campaign.

The Associated Press reports today that after Barack Obama asked the Democratic National Committee to reinstate the full voting rights of Florida and Michigan delegates, the DNC and the convention credentials committee voted unanimously to do so.


Some of Clinton's supporters were outraged that the delegates were not fully reinstated in May. They were also angry that Obama claimed some of the delegates won by Clinton in Michigan.


With this ruling the number of delegates needed to win the official democratic nomination has just risen from 2,118 to 2,210.

Reinstating the Florida and Michigan delegates at this time, will not change Obama's status because this was done after enough superdelegates stepped up and gave him enough to become the presumptive nominee.

Obama ended the primaries with a 365 more delegates than Hillary Clinton had when she suspended her campaign.

Florida holds 211 delegates and Michigan holds 157.

Hillary Clinton won both the Florida and the Michigan primaries, even though neither was supposed to count and Obama had removed his name from the Michigan ballot with neither candidate campaigning in either state at the time.

So, technically, the only thing that actually happened was the DNC interfered with the primary process just long enough to favor Obama and once Hillary Clinton was out of the way and her campaign suspended...... now they are giving all the voting rights back.

And people wonder why Hillary Clinton supporters are angry?

Very glad I am not a Democrat.

.