Update, 7:08 p.m. The Democratic National Committee has voted to restore the Florida and Michigan delegations, only giving each delegate one half a vote, reports The New York Times.
Original Post, 5:08 p.m. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a D.C. hotel on Saturday as the Democratic National Committee wrestled with the fate of the unseated delegates from Michigan and Florida.
The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is hearing from party members about how — and if — to seat the delegates after the two states moved up their presidential primaries to January in violation of DNC rules.
Many of the protesters carried signs expressing dissatisfaction and calling for the delegates to be seated including “Count every vote” and, according to a post on The New York Times politics blog, “I was thrown under the bus by the D.N.C.”
Denise Solomon was among those who traveled a long distance to protest outside the meeting, which is being held in the Marriot-Wardman Park Hotel near the National Zoo.
“There are buses of us from Florida but I’m proud to see people from other states coming out to support our cause,” Solomon said.
Unsurprisingly, many in the crowd appeared to be supporting Hillary Clinton, who has rested her last hopes for the nomination on seating the delegates from Michigan and Florida. Clinton won decisively in both states but some say the victories are flawed because candidates were not allowed to campaign in either state. Her main opposition, Barack Obama, did not appear on the ballot in Michigan.
Although Solomon said she supports Clinton, she claimed her protest wasn’t about seating more delegates for her candidate.
“This is about making every vote count,” Solomon said. “The people of Florida shouldn’t be punished for a decision they didn’t make themselves.”
Dave Williams, a D.C. resident, said he was not part of the protest but did hope the DNC reached a compromise that satisfied voters in both states.
“The differences between Hillary and Obama are so small compared to differences with Republicans that we can’t afford to push people away over this issue,” Williams said.
MSNBC is broadcasting a live video feed of the meeting.
