Democrats OK limiting party leaders’ role in picking nominee

CHICAGO — After two years of sometimes ugly public fighting, Democratic Party lead- ers on Saturday voted to limit their own high-profile roles in choosing presidential nominees, giving even more weight to the outcome of state primaries and caucuses.

The debate over the influence of party insiders known as superdelegates was evidence of the fallout from the 2016 fight between eventual nominee Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. His supporters accused the national party of tipping the scales in Clinton’s favor.

The change, which affects the hundreds of Democratic National Committee members, elected officials and party elders who attend pres- idential conventions as auto- matic delegates, was seen as a victory for the party chair- man, Tom Perez. It comes with the November election nearing, when GOP control of Congress is at stake, and a potentially bruising nomi- nating battle shaping up for 2020, when President Donald Trump is up for re-election.

“We should never ever confuse unity and unanim- ity,” Perez said after the vote. “Today, demonstrated the values of the Democratic Party.”

Under the new rules for 2020, superdelegates still will be automatic delegates to the party’s convention. But they will not have a vote on the first presidential ballot if the convention remains contested, which is a distinct possibility given the number of Democrats considering running.

Superdelegates would get to vote on any subsequent rounds of voting, though the Democratic nomination has been settled on the first ballot of every convention since the 1970s, when the modern system of primaries and caucuses was established.

The change was approved by acclamation. The key procedural vote before that showed the overhaul had 329.5 “yes” votes to 106.5 votes in opposition.

The approval drew a standing ovation from progressive activists, many of them among the Sanders supporters who had cited superdelegates as the personification of establishment favoritism toward Clinton.

“This is a great day for America and for the party,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ 2016 campaign manager. “When you have a system subject to gaming, there is incentive to game it. To the extent the system can’t be gamed, you have more credibility with voters.”

In a written statement, Sanders called the move “an important step forward in making the Democratic Party more open, democratic and responsive to the input of ordinary Americans.”

Perez said settling the issue means the party can focus exclusively on the November election, when Democrats are aiming to reclaim majorities on Capitol Hill and regain power in statehouses around the country.

“We’re here to win elections. We’re here to restore our democracy as we know it,” Perez said, and “we’re going to kick butt in 73 days.”

Beyond changing the rules for superdelegates, the overhaul is intended to make vote-counting at presidential preference caucuses more transparent and make it easier for voters other than longtime registered Democrats to participate in caucuses and primaries.