TDP Primary/Caucus Committee Holds First Hearing

by: David Mauro

Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 00:18 PM CDT

Note: It was my initial intention to liveblog the first hearing of the Texas Democratic Party Primary/Caucus System Committee, chaired by Senator Royce West. Unfortunately, I ran into some internet problems, but here is a report of what I saw, including pictures, that continues after the jump.

The movement to end the Texas Two-Step, as many have been saying for a long time, is about a lot more than Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

For those who were still trying to paint this as Clinton “sour grapes”, the first speaker at the “End the Texas Two-Step” press conference was quick to put that to rest.

“I’m not sure that it matters,” Peter Nolan began, “but I am and was a supporter of Barack Obama.”

Nolan is right: it doesn’t really matter. His support of Obama is only relevant because some have tried to dismiss those opposed to the Two-Step as bitter Clinton supporters. That is just not the case, and anyone who attended the hearing can attest to that.

And Nolan wasn’t the only Obama supporter at the hearing. I happened to be sitting next to Amy Esdorn, a graduate student who was unable to attend the caucus because of her class schedule.

Esdorn conceded that while Obama may have benefitted from the two-step system in the short run, the results of the primary were really irrelevant at this point.

“[Ending the caucus] is exactly the kind of change Barack Obama stands for,” she said.

“My vote should not count more than someone from the Rio Grande Valley or El Paso just because I’m from Travis County,” Martha Smiley said during the press conference.

Johnnie Limon of Austin held one of the more humorous signs to be seen at the hearing. “Two-Step at the Broken Spoke, One Step at the Polls,” his sign read.

Wendell Scott, a Gonzales County resident who wrote the anti-Two Step resolution and voted for Barack Obama, held a sign that said, “TDP leaders violate their own rules.”

Sue Berkel, a Clinton national delegate, stressed that the caucus could stay in place as a means for delegate selection, even if popular vote became the only means for delegate allocation.

Senator West called the meeting to order just before 10:2am.

To read about what happened during the hearing and to see more pictures, click "THERE'S MORE"

 

Here is an incomplete list of committee members. A complete list was requested from the TDP but has not yet been provided. Linda Burgess, Vanessa  Campbell, Yolanda Clay, Rep. Jessica Farrar, David Henderson, Gilbert Hinojosa, JoAnn Jenkins, Sue Lovell, Sharon Teal, Sen. Eddie Lucio, Ken Molberg, Rose Salas, Mary Seymour, Rep. Marc Veasey. Senator West mentioned that several committee members were unable to attend due to extended July 4 vacations.

In his opening remarks, West said the committee will have “four or five hearings” over the next “three or four months.” While Senator West said he wanted to have hearings “throughout Texas,” a mere “four or five hearings” makes it difficult for Texans across the state to give their input.

I know that there are time restrictions

State Rep. Jessica Farrar is the Vice-Chair of the committee.

TDP Chairman Boyd Richie was the first person invited to give testimony. Richie spoke about the steps the TDP took to preemptively address the “unique challenges” of high caucus turnout once it became clear that the primary would continue to Texas. Richie said the precinct convention helpline was staffed by 175 live operators on the night of March 4.

“The paper based system we currently use has its limitations,” Richie said. Richie mentioned ways to “modernize the system” to avoid possible fraud, including the use of bar codes. Richie also said we may need to revisit moving our primary forward in the next legislative session in order to address some problems that come from a condensed calendar.

Richie gave testimony for about 25 minutes and then began to take questions.

Senator West asked a follow-up question about moving the precinct convention from the night of March 4. Richie talked about how some people were in line to vote until after 10:30pm, which delayed the beginning of the precinct conventions. “That caused some folks to have to leave and be unable to participate,” Richie said. “I think that’s wrong.”

Senator West brought up some financial issues concerning the county and senatorial conventions. In Senate District 23, West said, the convention cost $40,000.

“Just think about that,” West said. “Some $40,000 to hold a senatorial district convention.”

“Being able to put the money together is certainly a concern,” Senator Eddie Lucio agreed.

Richie also put forth a suggestion of letting the Texas Secretary of State administer the primary. “They would be responsible for the myriad of issues [the state party currently is responsible for,” he said. That would allow parties to focus on recruiting and getting candidates elected, Richie said. However, Richie did say that the Secretary of State has become a “partisan, political office” and may need to become “an elected office.”

Richie also suggested that we might be able to move the primary to “a Friday, especially given our generous early voting period” and then hold the precinct convention the next day.

Richie spoke about a precinct in which someone started their caucus well before the polls even closed, and tried to report their results 10 minutes before 7pm.

Richie said he was “uncertain” about the methodology used to arrive at the number of 1 million caucusgoers and agreed that the number of confirmed caucusgoers was around 700,000 in response to a question asked by committee member Linda Burgess.

Committee member Sharon Teal brought up a great point about the problem with holding the precinct convention on a different day than the primary. Currently, the Texas Secretary of State pays the rent for the Election Day polling place. If we held the caucus on a different day, Teal said, the county parties would be responsible for paying for a venue. As we all know, it would be a significant strain on many of our 254 county parties to do so.

Tom Green County Constable J.P. Hall began his question by saying that our current system “doesn’t work all that well.” Hall said “he didn’t think it was fair and caused too much confusion” while reminding everyone that sign-out sheets were released early in precincts all across the state.

Sen. Lucio said, “I’ve been on an all out crusade for voter participation for many years … Many people are disillusioned because of our current system.”

The question and answer period with Chairman Richie ended at 11:40am.