NH Democrats urge superdelegate reform

On Saturday, June 19 the New Hampshire Democratic Party passed a resolution urging a change to national rules about superdelegates.

Most of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) must vote for a presidential nominee based on how the public voted in their state primaries.  However, 712 party leaders known as superdelegates are allowed to vote for any candidate they personally support.

Although Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire Democratic primary with a 22% lead over Hillary Clinton, almost every superdelegate from New Hampshire plans to vote for Hillary Clinton at the national convention. 

The same is true in other states Sanders won.  Nationally, 587 superdelegates have pledged to vote for Hillary Clinton, compared to 48 for Bernie Sanders.

Some argue that this system unjustly takes nominating power away from the public.

The New Hampshire Democratic Party resolution states, "we encourage all NH members of the DNC to use their influence with their colleagues to address the many concerns that have been expressed regarding [superdelegates] and successfully work to reform the delegate selection process in a manner that respects both NH Primary voters and our leadership in time for the 2020 First in the Nation Presidential Primary."

Opponents of the resolution note that there has never been a situation where superdelegates changed the outcome of the popular vote.  Clinton won 34 primaries this year, compared to Sanders' 23.

Former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan, one of this year's superdelegates, also told WMUR that Sanders failed to campaign for superdelegates.  "I was never contacted by anyone from the Sanders campaign about supporting Bernie Sanders," said Sullivan. "And no one I talked to on the national committee was contacted. So it seems to me that Sen. Sanders lost an opportunity there."

Do you think the Democratic Party should change its rules for superdelegates?  Let us know in the comments.