Tallahassee, FL – Florida moved its primary to January 29- violating the Feb. 5 date set by both National Republican and Democratic Parties. As a result, the democrats stripped Florida of its delegates to the national convention and the republicans cut the Florida delegation in half.
So, Florida democrats filed suit against the DNC claiming that its decision to have no Florida representation is unfair and disenfranchises voters. That suit is pending.
However, a new lawsuit claims that the state, not the Republican or Democratic National Committees is at fault. The lawsuit, filed today by Jon Ausman, Alma Gonzales and Linda Lloyd, demands that Florida move back its primary to Feb. 5 or later to restore the full delegates to each national convention.
Ausman is a member of the Florida Democratic National Committee.
They are pushing to declare the Jan. 29 primary unconstitutional on the basis that it interferes with the internal affairs of the Democratic and Republican National Committees, and that the state did not have the authority to advance the primary before the Feb. 5 date.
Ausman's goal is to have the courts declare the Jan. 29 primary unconstitutional. If that happens, the primary date will either revert back to March, or the legislature would have to reconvene to set a new date that would be Feb. 5 or later. For WFSU-FM, I'm Lynn Hatter.