Nebraska Democratic Party: Final Deadline for National Convention Applications Approaches

Final Deadline for National Convention Applications Approaches

May 27, 09:51 AM CST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 27, 2008

Final Deadline for National Convention Applications Approaches

LINCOLN, Neb. – Over 330 Nebraska Democrats have already applied to be apart of Nebraska’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, but there is still time to submit an application.

All those wishing to be considered candidates for one of Nebraska’s 24 pledged delegate slots must fill out and return a one-page delegate application. The applications must be received at the Nebraska Democratic Party in Lincoln by May 30 so that the lists can be sent to Presidential campaigns for review. In accordance with the results of the February Caucuses, 16 of these 24 delegates will be pledged to Senator Barack Obama and 8 will be pledged to Senator Hillary Clinton.

“The response we’ve seen is quite remarkable, and more applications arrive every day,” said Lanny Munson, Chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party’s Rules Committee. “Interest in attending the convention has more than quadrupled from 2004. Democrats clearly want to get more involved in their party and are committed to success in November.”

The Democratic National Convention will be held August 25-28 in Denver, Colorado. Nebraska will get a total of 31 delegates to the convention, including six automatic Unpledged Party Leaders and Elected Officials (also known as “superdelegates”). An additional unpledged Add-On delegate will be elected to the Convention, but no application is necessary to fill that position.

All 25 elected delegates will be selected at the Nebraska Democratic Party’s State Convention to be held on June 20-22 in Fremont.

More information on the delegate selection process, as well as the application itself, can be found at http://www.nebraskademocrats.org/denver2008. Potential applicants should direct questions to Eric Van Horn, 402-434-2187.

–NDP–

– by Eric Van Horn | Send this to a friend

Since many of those who might consider being delegates to the National Convention would be those delegates from the county conventions (elected June 1-10) that attended the caucuses in February. How can they be expected to meet a May 30 deadline if they don’t even know if they’re going to the State Convention as a delegate?

I realize that the metropolitan counties, and a few others, already have that decided, but most of the rural counties have not. Why is it necessary to have these applications in to the NDP office before the counties have even held their conventions?

Another question is this, why must the campaigns look over the lists? Isn’t the selection of the delegates a function of the Nebraska Democratic Party’s State Convention Delegates? Or does the NDP SC even matter?
— Brian T. Osborn May 27, 01:46 PM CST #
Brian, the delegates are elected at the state convention. The campaigns have right of refusal for delegates to decrease the possibility of “faithless electors.” The applications are necessary to decrease the amount of chaos at the state convention and allow the campaigns to have some control over who represents them in Denver.

Ultimately, the final decision will be in the hands of the delegates at the state convention, but the deadline is in place to make sure the process is as organized as possible. Think of it as a registration deadline or a filing deadline.
— Dave Sund May 27, 02:14 PM CST #
Brian:

First of all, please remember that the Delegate Selection Plan, which was approved by SCC, contains this deadline. The Presidential “right of review” is a mandate required by the DNC – and also included in that same Delegate Selection Plan passed by the SCC.

This release was sent to statewide media to try and alleviate the concerns you raise. We’ve already had some coverage today on radio, and I hope that will continue tonight on TV and tomorrow in the newspaper. We also included some delegate applications in all the packets we sent to counties before February’s caucus. We’re doing everything we can to notify Democrats of this deadline.

Please contact me directly with any questions about the delegate selection process, including Presidential right of review.

Thanks!
— Eric Van Horn May 27, 02:19 PM CST #
Who’s job is it to tell the delegates selected at the caucus … when and where the county conventions are being held?
— Marian Ingwersen May 27, 09:06 PM CST #
Marian, that is the duty of the county chair, who also has the duty of informing the county clerk of the date, time and place of the county convention. It is also a legal requirement of the county chair to publicize the date, time and place of the county convention at least 15 days prior to the convention.

More info is here on the Nebraska Legislature website.
— Brian T. Osborn May 27, 09:23 PM CST #
Marian here is the list of county conventions.
— Dave Sund May 27, 11:40 PM CST #
I am in Saunders County and our convention has been set for June 7 at 10:00 am in the Ceresco Community center. This event is not on the list.
— Marian Ingwersen May 28, 07:28 AM CST #
For a more complete list of conventions in the 3rd CD see the 3rd CD Organization website.
— Brian T. Osborn May 28, 10:06 AM CST #
I would imagine that anyone interested in going to the National Convention should have contacted either the State or the County Chairs by this time.
Four years ago we voted to submit the names after the State Convention and some were accepted. However this time around there seems to be plenty of delegates. Usually those who get selected have been laboring in the Party’s vineyards for years and have built a base of support to get the nod. Those who wish to go to the 2012 convention should start working on it now.
— Tom Havelka May 28, 11:59 AM CST #