Hello,

I live in Florida and like more than 3.6 million other folks I cast my vote in the Presidential Primary on January 29. Last spring legislation was passed in the Florida Congress, HB-537, that would supposedly give Floridians a greater role in selecting the presidential candidates. Well apparently it didn’t work out as planned, and because of this legislation more than 1.7 million votes have been left out of the tally. I’m sure we’d all like to believe that our law makers had our best interest at heart, and no matter what their rationale may have been; we the people rely on these officials to protect our rights. The concept of "one man, one vote" has been referred to as a "fundamental principle of constitutional law". However, most of the main stream media and political pundits seem satisfied with the outcome of more than 3.6 million people in the State of Florida being disenfranchised. They’ve continuously diminished this entire situation to an Obama/Clinton issue with the suggestion that somehow, allowing our votes to be counted would be unfair to one of the candidates, and their only observations have been mostly limited to the belief that, changing the date of the Primary Election in Florida was the result of the will of the people. That is not true. The Democrats in the Florida Congress were out numbered 77 to 43 in the House of Representatives and 26 to 14 in the Senate when this Bill was passed. And when the democrats attempted to amend HB-537, moving the Primary Election Date to one that would be in compliance with DNC Rules, their efforts were blocked by the republican majority, and the threat of a veto by the republican governor. And to top that off in the last few days of session: SB-1174, a bill providing for a paper trail on voting machines was combined with HB-537 by the majority. The paper trail issue has been a long standing objective of the Democrats since the 2000 national election. So knowing they didn’t have the votes to stop this legislation, and aware of the future consequences of voting against a paper trail on voting machines, the democrats were compelled to vote with the republican majority. The DNC and the RNC both have rules that their respective members must abide by, but these rules, by either party do not trump state law. It was State law, not state party policy that changed the election date. State law cannot currently be superseded by DNC policy and the Democratic National Committee Rules Committee members were well aware of this; and even after considering the failed efforts of our democratic law makers; they still chose to deny the people of Florida the right to have our votes count. This is something that should outrage every citizen in every state across our nation, because if we allow any group or organization, by any legal devise, the power to deny our rights today; it will happen again; you could be next. It is my understanding that the DNC has a contractual agreement to fight for our right to vote, instead they turned their backs on the good people of the State of Florida. All the democratic candidates were on the ballot in Florida, and both of the remaining candidates had national recognition. So not willing to come up with a solution; over the last few months the DNC placed our faith in the hands of the two remaining candidates. One wanted to count our votes, and the other refused, for whatever the reasons may have been. But I don’t think it should be about them. I don’t believe it should be now, or should have ever been their decision. It’s about you, and me. It’s about us, and our right to one man one vote and we have waited long enough. They’re cooking us in a slow stew and when time is up we’ll have to accept whatever they offer, and you can bet it’s not going to amount to anything even close to our Constitutional Right of One Man One Vote. January 29 was not the day of some $20,000,000 Beauty Contest, it was the day we went out to vote; and in record numbers for the candidates of our choice. It’s time for us to come together and let the DNC know that we demand they count our votes. They made the rule. They can make an exception to the rule, especially one that so grossly tears right into the fabric of the fundamental principles of our democracy. They’re not going to do anything without public out cry. Florida Demands Representation is an organization sponsoring a rally in front of the DNC Headquarters in Washington, DC on Saturday May 31. We need you there!!! Time is of the essence. Our goal is to bring together everyone who wants to be a part of the Count Our Votes Movement. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, or whether in Florida or any other state. If you want to help us get this message to the DNC, sign up now and let us know how you can help. Click on Florida Demands Representation on our home page for more information about the May 31 rally. Remember; it’s time to count our votes.

Loye 05/18/2008