Florida Democratic Party Releases 2012 Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan

NEWS FROM THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

For Immediate Release: May 11, 2011
Contact: Eric Jotkoff, (850) 222-3411

Florida Democratic Party Releases 2012 Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan

The Florida Democratic Party today released the Florida Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan laying out the proposed process for selecting Delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Over the next 30 days, the Florida Democratic Party will welcome public comments regarding the plan at http://www.FlaDems.com/2012DelegatePlan, where the full plan can be viewed.

“I would like to thank Florida Democratic Party Secretary Rick Boylan, the members of the Select Committee on Delegate Selection, and the Subcommittee on Affirmative Action Chaired by Ron Mills for their work in crafting the Florida Democratic Party’s proposed Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan,” said Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith. “This plan ensures that the voice of Florida Democrats will be heard and our Delegation will be seated at the 2012 Convention in Charlotte. While we sincerely hope that the Republicans choose to follow the rules by setting the primary for March 6th, this plan provides us with the flexibility needed in our delegate selection process so Florida Democrats won’t be disenfranchised by the actions of Republican politicians in Tallahassee.”

The Delegate Selection Process will work as follows:

·  Should the Presidential Preference Primary be held on or after March 6th, in compliance with the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee rules, the results of this election will be used to apportion Delegates similar to the process used by Florida Democrats in past Presidential Primaries.

·  Between April 14th and May 5th of 2012, each County Democratic Party will host a caucus to elect Delegates to a State Convention.

·  Should the Presidential Primary be held in compliance with the rules, the pledged delegates elected at the county caucus will be reflective of the Presidential Primary results. Should the Presidential Primary be held before March 6th, the county caucuses will serve as the first step in allocating delegates to the State Convention.   

·  In June, the 1538 delegates elected at the county caucuses will gather at a State Convention to elect Florida’s 258 District-Level Delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The District-Level Delegates will then elect the 31 Pledged Party Leader and Elected Official (PLEO) Delegates, the 51 At-Large Delegates, and the 20 At-Large Alternate Delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Additionally, this Florida Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan ensures that our delegation represents the great diversity of our state and the Florida Democratic Party.  

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