http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/238351.htmlFlorida Democrats, unable to work out a compromise to avoid harsh sanctions imposed by the Democratic National Committee, appear ready to give in and declare the Jan. 29 presidential primary meaningless.
While state party officials insist no ''consensus'' has been reached on what the party should do, there is a growing recognition that within the next week Democrats will announce a plan that renders the primary vote nonbinding in order to comply with national party rules. Florida Democrats will instead decide some time after Jan. 29 which presidential candidate is the winner of the state's delegates to the national convention.
One suggested plan is to have Democrats vote by mail, although another proposal that may win out calls for Democrats to hold a state convention sometime after Feb. 5.
''The positive thing about this is reality may finally be setting in at the party that delegates will not be selected on the 29th of January and if we want to have delegates we need to have an alternate plan,'' said Allan Katz, a Tallahassee attorney and member of the Democratic National Committee.
Jon Ausman, a longtime party activist from Tallahassee and member of the DNC, said Friday that the state party and Chairman Karen Thurman planned to back a plan to spend at least $2.3 million to distribute, collect and tally votes by mail. Ausman sent out an e-mail to party stalwarts across the state announcing the move, but state party officials quickly asserted that wasn't true.
''The party has not made a decision and there is no announcement imminent,'' said Thurman in an e-mail she sent out to members of the Florida Democratic Party state executive committee. ``Vote-by-mail is just one of several proposals we are discussing.''