REVOTE

This petition was closed to new signatures after news reports such as this one confirmed that revote efforts had failed. Hopefully, another way will be found to seat at least a portion of Florida's and Michigan's delegates at the Democratic National Convention in August!

To: 

We strongly agree with Florida's Democratic Senator Bill Nelson that, "... in America every citizen has an equal right to vote -- and to have that vote count." (10 March) We also agree that holding new elections is the fairest way to resolve the months of bickering (Text, Video) about how Florida and Michigan might regain their 366 Democratic delegates.

According to news reports (CNN, Politico), the major obstacle to holding such a revote is determining who will pay for it. To eliminate this roadblock, Democratic Governors Rendell (PA) and Corzine (NJ) have offered to help with fundraising if the DNC will commit to paying the total cost. (11 March) They have even pledged to raise $15 million, which is estimated to be about half the amount required to conduct full-fledged primaries.

We urge you to accept their generous offer, and to do whatever else you can to ensure that a revote takes place as soon as possible. Because we realize that the DNC does not have nearly enough cash on hand to cover the remaining $millions, each of us pledges to make a contribution under the following two conditions:

1. An entirely separate revote fund is established, with a contribution link prominently featured on the DNC's home page.

2. Revote funds will not be used to pay for traditional caucuses because they tend to leave out entire categories of voters, resulting in much lower turnouts.*

Please bear in mind that this is shaping up to be a very close presidential election, and it would be foolish to risk alienating voters in crucial swing states such as Florida and Michigan. Also bear in mind that the Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee has been quoted as saying that, “The whole process is one that will raise questions about Democratic competence. If you cannot run your nominating process better than this, how can you govern America?” (NY Times, CNBC) Further delay in coordinating a revote could turn this alleged incompetence into a major campaign issue, making it much harder for Democratic candidates at all levels of government to win in November!

*Compare the results of the March 4 primary in Ohio to the March 8 caucus in Wyoming. Ohio's Democratic primary (with roughly 10 times the number of delegates at stake) had a turnout of well over 2 million -- dwarfing the 8,760 who showed up to vote in Wyoming!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned