Maine Democrats approve changes to superdelegate voting rules [View all]

[jpak]

http://bangordailynews.com/story/what-maine-democrats-are-thinking/

An amendment to the Democratic Convention rules that would force superdelegates to cast their presidential preference votes proportionally to the results of Maine’s caucuses was approved Saturday morning at the Democratic State Convention.

In Maine, where nearly 64 percent of Democrats supported Bernie Sanders in the March caucuses, three of the five superdelegates have indicated support for Hillary Clinton. One supports Bernie Sanders and the fifth has not indicated a preference.

The amendment, which was proposed by Portland Rep. Diane Russell, who is a Bernie Sanders supporter, will take effect in 2020 and also includes clauses to “strongly encourage” Maine’s five superdelegates to vote accordingly this year.

There were several attempts to make the rule take effect this year, but they were called out of order because the deadline for amendments to the party’s rules was two weeks ago, according to Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett.

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