[T]wo men have been dropped from the Vermont delegation to the Democratic National Convention and one male delegate will challenge a Vermont Democratic Party decision to replace them with female delegates. The complaint will be heard at the Democratic convention’s credentials meeting this Sunday.
Sen. Tim Ashe, D-Chittenden, and Ken Dean of Montpelier, who were pledged for Sanders, were elected by other pledged delegates on June 11. On July 7, they were replaced by two female delegates, who are also pledged for Sanders.
Conor Casey, executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party, said DNC officials informed him shortly after the June meeting that Vermont’s delegation was out of compliance with DNC charter rules, which require delegate seats be divided equally between men and women. Following the June 11 election, the delegation had 15 men and 11 women.
Casey said the DNC Party Affairs and Delegation Selection Department threatened to revoke five of Vermont’s pledged delegate seats if the imbalance was not corrected.
Dean, who is a veteran of seven Democratic conventions, called the sanctions “a real Donald Trump move inside the DNC” and said officials would have never carried out those threats. “The DNC always barks, “he said. “Every cycle they bark and bark and bark, but it’s empty.”
Ashe said by email he is not challenging his removal as a delegate. “I was unaware that my name would be put on a challenge,” he said.
“Though I’m disappointed that I will not be a delegate at the convention, I am not challenging my removal and have nothing to do with any effort to reinstate me,” Ashe said. “I understand why some delegates are unhappy with the DNC’s process ( this after a primary season mismanaged by chair Wasserman Schultz), but the rules are what they are. I am very happy for my replacement, who is also a very big Bernie supporter.”
DNC Party and Delegate Selection Department officials did not immediately respond to interview requests.
According to the complaint, Dean wants the DNC Credentials Committee to consider a solution that would restore their delegate status. He is proposing that the committee grant them each half a vote, and divide three votes among six women, one of whom is yet to be elected. The move would result in a gender-balanced delegation, with 13 votes each for men and women.
The DNC credentials committee has taken a similar tack before, in a 2008 dispute between Clinton and Obama delegates in Florida and Michigan.
The Vermont Democratic Party director Casey is skeptical about the idea. “I’m pretty unfamiliar with the cases used in the past and anybody I’ve spoken to at the DNC thinks it was a fairly far-fetched solution,” Casey said.
He said the Vermont Democratic Party had to act fast due to a DNC-imposed deadline. “Every delegate is free to file a credentials challenge and they should go ahead and do so if they want to,” he said. “But at the same time, we have an obligation to make sure Vermont sends a full delegation down.”
Nineteen Vermont Democrats, including five pledged delegates, signed affidavits supporting the complaint.
Claudia Pringles, a pledged delegate from Montpelier who signed an affidavit, said she thought the decision to eliminate Ashe and Dean was unfair. She said the need to maintain a balance of men and women should have been communicated during the May primaries or during Ashe and Dean’s election.
“None of the male candidates have been told ‘no there’s no room for you,’” Pringles said. “They were still under the impression that there were openings for them so they campaigned very heavily.”
Arshad Hasan, another pledged delegate (who did not sign the affidavit), said he knew about the gender balance requirement, but thought some first-time pledged delegates were confused about the rules. “Not all the pieces (of the rules) are in the clearest English, like it says what it says, but it can be helpful for people, if it’s their first time, for people, like, to have someone to talk through it,” Hasan said. “And it was clear to me at the delegation meeting that had some of the delegation had someone to talk through it, it wouldn’t have been as confusing for some folks.”
Dean said he will come to Sunday’s committee meeting, which takes place in Philadelphia this Sunday. “If we have to go to the floor of the convention to get justice, we’ll go there, but it’s kind of silly to go to that length to solve something that could have been solved two weeks ago,” he said.
CORRECTION: Ashe says he was not aware he was listed as a challenger.
