By Ramon Bracamontes - El Paso Times - 5/15/2008
The challenge filed by El Pasoans supporting Sen. Barack Obama's presidential nomination that questions whether the county Democratic Party properly seated its delegates is one of about 150 challenges pending in Texas, officials said Wednesday.
Hector Nieto, spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, said most of the challenges come from the state's major cities and all allege that rules were not followed at the county conventions.
"We received 50 challenges from Tarrant County alone," Nieto said. "Every one will be considered and resolved right before the convention starts."
El Paso's challenge to the way delegates were seated was filed in April, a week after the county convention, by El Paso lawyer Don Williams. He is alleging that local democrats appointed too many delegates to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to the state convention. The challenge is asking that 37 Clinton-supporting delegates be changed to Obama.
If the change is not made, then El Paso should not be allowed to participate at the state convention, the challenge states.
Williams said he expected his challenge to be upheld, thus giving Obama 37 more El Paso delegates.
"If we have to change delegates right before, we are ready," Williams said. "We will have enough Obama delegates in Austin."
Democratic precinct chairwoman and state delegate Rita Sariñana said she was not worried about being able to participate in the state convention.
"I was elected from my precinct, by my neighbors," she said. "My seat is not in question."
The makeup of the state's delegates remains controversial because neither Clinton nor Obama has secured the 2,025 delegates needed to win the party's presidential nomination, and Texas still has 67 delegates to allocate. How those 67 delegates get split will be decided at the state convention.
The state convention will begin June 6.
Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at rbracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6142.
Read more in the El Paso Times
Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts
Monday, May 19, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
District convention results challenged
By AMAN BATHEJA - Fort Worth Star Telegram - April 15, 2008
Local Hillary Clinton supporters have filed more than 35 written challenges to the results of the Senate district conventions that chose presidential delegates March 29.
The challenges question the legitimacy of some delegates who were elected during muddled Senate district conventions statewide. The deadline for filing challenges was Monday.
The state convention, scheduled for June 5-7, is the final step of the Texas Democratic Party's complicated caucus process, in which 67 of the state's 193 pledged delegates are doled out. The remaining 126 pledged delegates were elected based on the March 4 primary vote: Clinton won 65, Obama 61.
The Clinton campaign has acknowledged that she likely gained fewer delegates than Barack Obama at the Senate district conventions but has not conceded a majority of the state's overall delegates, who also include 35 superdelegates.
Obama appeared to gain more delegates at all three district conventions in Tarrant County.
Most of the challenges allege that proper parliamentary procedure was not followed or that some delegates were improperly elected.
Clinton supporter Jason Smith of Fort Worth filed several challenges. He said that problems at the district conventions, as well as at the precinct conventions on the night of the primary, disenfranchised too many voters to be accepted as valid.
"Any process that allows some people to vote twice while denying that same opportunity to the disabled and to those who work nights is a constitutionally invalid system," Smith said. "Any constitutional law professor like Barack Obama could tell you that."
Faith Chatham of Arlington sat on the credentials committee for the Senate District 9 convention in Arlington, which was assigned to verify delegates' eligibility. She said there were so many violations of state party rules that the results shouldn't count.
"We should throw out the delegates and go with the primary vote," said Chatham, a Clinton supporter who filed several challenges.
State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, an Obama supporter, said the Clinton challenges amount to grasping at straws.
"They're beginning to come off like poor losers," Burnam said.
Hector Nieto, spokesman for the state party, said Monday that the party had received more than 50 challenges from both sides but could not give a precise estimate.
A credentials committee will resolve the challenges before the state convention, he said.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
Local Hillary Clinton supporters have filed more than 35 written challenges to the results of the Senate district conventions that chose presidential delegates March 29.
The challenges question the legitimacy of some delegates who were elected during muddled Senate district conventions statewide. The deadline for filing challenges was Monday.
The state convention, scheduled for June 5-7, is the final step of the Texas Democratic Party's complicated caucus process, in which 67 of the state's 193 pledged delegates are doled out. The remaining 126 pledged delegates were elected based on the March 4 primary vote: Clinton won 65, Obama 61.
The Clinton campaign has acknowledged that she likely gained fewer delegates than Barack Obama at the Senate district conventions but has not conceded a majority of the state's overall delegates, who also include 35 superdelegates.
Obama appeared to gain more delegates at all three district conventions in Tarrant County.
Most of the challenges allege that proper parliamentary procedure was not followed or that some delegates were improperly elected.
Clinton supporter Jason Smith of Fort Worth filed several challenges. He said that problems at the district conventions, as well as at the precinct conventions on the night of the primary, disenfranchised too many voters to be accepted as valid.
"Any process that allows some people to vote twice while denying that same opportunity to the disabled and to those who work nights is a constitutionally invalid system," Smith said. "Any constitutional law professor like Barack Obama could tell you that."
Faith Chatham of Arlington sat on the credentials committee for the Senate District 9 convention in Arlington, which was assigned to verify delegates' eligibility. She said there were so many violations of state party rules that the results shouldn't count.
"We should throw out the delegates and go with the primary vote," said Chatham, a Clinton supporter who filed several challenges.
State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, an Obama supporter, said the Clinton challenges amount to grasping at straws.
"They're beginning to come off like poor losers," Burnam said.
Hector Nieto, spokesman for the state party, said Monday that the party had received more than 50 challenges from both sides but could not give a precise estimate.
A credentials committee will resolve the challenges before the state convention, he said.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
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