Testimony Sent to The Advisory Committee on the Texas Democratic Party Convention/Caucus System

Over 2.8 million Texans voted in the primary and gave Clinton a 100,000 vote margin over Obama, thereby wining. Just hours later, the Texas caucus registered an Obama win over Clinton. Allocation of the 126 primary pledged delegates were Clinton 65 and Obama 61. Allocation of the caucus pledged delegates were Obama 38 and Clinton 29. Obama actually won 5 more pledged delegates than Clinton in Texas. Common sense begs the question if this result was truly in line with the will of the Texas voters.

Texas awards delegates in a convoluted process involving both a primary election and caucuses. Over half of would-be voters did not participate in the caucuses. This alone shows the fallacy or inequity this system provides. The process seems to me to be a form of voter suppression in that some voters are unable to participate in the caucuses. How would those citizens have voted if they had been given the chance? And, how would their votes have impacted the overall election results? It is not a true representation of a majority of the voter’s choice. We see only one advantage to this system. It helps the party’s leadership base remain somewhat exclusive.

Just make it simple a primary election where a majority vote decides the winner & the winner takes all delegates. I suppose the super delegate system is not included in this change. Although this too needs to be seriously scrutinized.

Please let your voice be heard send an email to testimony@txdemocrats.org