Iowa Democrats are making a renewed pitch to help kick off the presidential nominating process after two states chosen to be part of the early lineup failed to meet a key deadline.
The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee voted last month to grant conditional waivers to five states to hold their presidential primaries ahead of the rest of the country, booting Iowa and its caucuses from their traditional first-in-the-nation position.
South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Georgia and Michigan would make up the new early voting window under the plan.
But each state needed to submit a letter to the committee by Jan. 5 proving they have buy-in from state leaders to change the dates of their primaries. New Hampshire also was required to show that state political leaders were working to expand early voting access.
The committee's co-chairs issued a memo to their members late Thursday night saying Democrats in New Hampshire and Georgia couldn't meet those requirements by the deadline. They recommended granting both states a deadline extension, saying the committee would meet again soon to discuss the situation.
But Iowa Democrats said the committee should look at other options in the wake of that failure.
More:The death of the Iowa Democratic caucus: How 50 years of jury-rigging doomed an American tradition
In a letter sent to the committee Friday morning, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn emphasized that the party would be willing and able to adapt its caucuses to the committee's preferences, rather than relying on state legislators to make changes.
"As a state party-run contest, we retain the ultimate ability to tailor our contest to RBC rules and specifications and maintain a flexibility that states with state-run contests cannot," he wrote. "To that end, we request consideration for a conditional waiver be considered at the February meeting of the RBC."
Still, committee leaders say they want to give both states more time to meet the deadline.
"As you know, we expected both the New Hampshire and Georgia efforts to be complicated but well worth the effort if we can get them done," they wrote. "We remain committed to doing all we can to see our plan through."
The calendar order still needs to be formally ratified by the full DNC early this year.
National Democrats soured on Iowa's first-in-the-nation status after its disastrous 2020 caucuses, in which a host of problems kept Iowa Democrats from reporting reliable results. The Democratic National Committee also believes the state lacks diversity and fails to represent the constituency of the party.
Republicans will continue to keep Iowa first in its presidential nominating process.
The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee voted last month to grant conditional waivers to five states to hold their presidential primaries ahead of the rest of the country, booting Iowa and its caucuses from their traditional first-in-the-nation position.
South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Georgia and Michigan would make up the new early voting window under the plan.
But each state needed to submit a letter to the committee by Jan. 5 proving they have buy-in from state leaders to change the dates of their primaries. New Hampshire also was required to show that state political leaders were working to expand early voting access.
The committee's co-chairs issued a memo to their members late Thursday night saying Democrats in New Hampshire and Georgia couldn't meet those requirements by the deadline. They recommended granting both states a deadline extension, saying the committee would meet again soon to discuss the situation.
But Iowa Democrats said the committee should look at other options in the wake of that failure.
More:The death of the Iowa Democratic caucus: How 50 years of jury-rigging doomed an American tradition
In a letter sent to the committee Friday morning, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn emphasized that the party would be willing and able to adapt its caucuses to the committee's preferences, rather than relying on state legislators to make changes.
"As a state party-run contest, we retain the ultimate ability to tailor our contest to RBC rules and specifications and maintain a flexibility that states with state-run contests cannot," he wrote. "To that end, we request consideration for a conditional waiver be considered at the February meeting of the RBC."
Still, committee leaders say they want to give both states more time to meet the deadline.
"As you know, we expected both the New Hampshire and Georgia efforts to be complicated but well worth the effort if we can get them done," they wrote. "We remain committed to doing all we can to see our plan through."
The calendar order still needs to be formally ratified by the full DNC early this year.
National Democrats soured on Iowa's first-in-the-nation status after its disastrous 2020 caucuses, in which a host of problems kept Iowa Democrats from reporting reliable results. The Democratic National Committee also believes the state lacks diversity and fails to represent the constituency of the party.
Republicans will continue to keep Iowa first in its presidential nominating process.
Iowa Democrats make new bid for early caucuses as New Hampshire, Georgia miss key deadline
Iowa Democrats are making a renewed pitch to help kick off the presidential nominating process after New Hampshire and Georgia missed a key deadline.
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