There's a big problem brewing that could cause many loyal Michigan Democrats to lose their voting rights if there is a DNC-sanctioned primary or caucus scheduled in that state. The Obama campaign is also concerned, and I'd like to explain both the problem and at least one suggestion for how we can assure that all Michigan Democrats have the right to vote in any new contest.
On January 10, 2008, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga encouraged his blog readers in Michigan to vote for Mitt Romney in the Republican primary on January 15, 2008. Kos's call to arms received considerable press attention (ABC, CNN, etc.), and many Michigan Democrats crossed over to keep Romney alive. Romney won the Michigan primary by about 80,000 votes. It's not clear exactly how many Kossacks crossed over, but those of you who did should feel free to post your testimonials in this thread.
Kos recommended this action because the January 15th Democratic primary would not count. Most of the candidates had removed their names from the Democratic primary ballot, and in August, 2007, the DNC's Rules & Bylaws Committee voted to strip Michigan of any delegates selected in this premature January 15th contest. As a result, Michigan (along with Florida) were the two rare states in which Republican primary voters outnumbered Democratic primary voters.
Fast forward to today, when the Michigan state party and the DNC are trying to come to an agreement on how to hold a proper, sanctioned primary. But there's a big problem for our "Kos Michigan Democrats." I'll let Marc Ambinder explain:
Turns out that DNC rules do prohibit cross-over participation. The state party has to comply with rule 2.E, which states: "No person shall participate or vote in the nominating process for a Democratic presidential candidate who also participates in the nominating process of any other party for the corresponding elections." So as far as the DNC is concerned, the objection of potentially disenfranchising Dems or indies who voted in the GOP primary is not valid. For the Obama campaign, this may well be a political hook on which to hang their argument about unfairness. But it's within the rules of the party.
And that's the problem: if you were a loyal Michigan Democrat who voted in the Republican primary, then the state party and the DNC may be headed toward preventing you from voting in the sanctioned Democratic primary. That's even if you declared your Democratic bona fides five minutes after you voted for Mitt Romney. Jerome Armstrong at MyDD is also suggesting this terrible turn of events could come to pass.
Now I think this DNC rule is subject to interpretation. That is, a January 15th primary in Michigan ought to have no relevance to the "corresponding elections." There are no corresponding elections for a primary in any state (except Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada) when the primary is scheduled before February 5th. It's out of cycle as far as the rules are concerned. So those voters should not have to suffer any disqualification. Otherwise the DNC would be granting legitimacy to a contest that fell before the starting gun fired.
At the very least, the state party and the DNC should come to an agreement that allows Republican primary voters who promptly re-established their independence from the Republican Party by, say, the end of February, 2008, to vote in the sanctioned Democratic primary. That would protect our Kos Michigan Democrats and allow them to exercise their voting rights.
I would encourage my fellow Kossacks in Michigan to (politely) contact their state committee members and DNC members to point out this specific problem and urge them to establish reasonable rules which allow them to vote if there is any new sanctioned contest. These are loyal Democrats -- among the most active and energized Democrats, in fact -- and they should be allowed to vote.