Fri, May 09, 2008

Nation

Court axes lawsuit vs. Dems over Fla. delegates

The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.22.2008
ATLANTA — A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee over the party's decision to strip Florida of its delegates to its national convention.
But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling released Friday, said the lawsuit "raises a number of interesting and potentially significant questions," and gave the plaintiff an opening to amend and refile the lawsuit.
The plaintiff, Victor DiMaio, a Democratic Party activist from Tampa, Fla., said he would refile.
DiMaio filed the lawsuit in 2007 accusing the party of disenfranchising Florida's Democratic voters by barring them from having their say in choosing their party's nominee. The party stripped both Florida and Michigan of their national convention delegates because they moved their primaries to January dates that were earlier than party rules allowed.
The Democratic National Committee argued the party has the right to set its own rules and not seat delegates who refuse to follow them.
The three-judge panel agreed with a U.S. district judge in Tampa who dismissed the challenge, saying that DiMaio "undeniably" lacked standing to bring the lawsuit because he had yet to vote in the Florida primary when it was filed.