Presidential primaries get earlier, and political parties ge

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Presidential primaries get earlier, and political parties get angrier« Thread Started on Aug 27, 2007, 11:46pm » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Presidential primaries get earlier, and political parties get angrierBy Christi ParsonsChicago TribuneJIM COLE / APread at source> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... Democratic presidential hopeful Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., holds a "job interview" town meeting Friday in Peterborough, N.H. — one of the few states permitted to have an early primary.The rules Democratic Party rules say states can't hold primaries before Feb. 5, except for Iowa (Jan. 14), Nevada (Jan. 19), New Hampshire (Jan. 22) and South Carolina (Jan. 29). But then Florida passed a law setting its primary on Jan. 29. Sanctions for violating the rules: A state would lose some or all of its delegates to the nominating convention in Denver next August. And presidential candidates would be prohibited from campaigning in that state before the primary. Florida is among 31 states that will present their voting plans today, but it's the only one expected to be found in violation of party rules. Washington state Although Washington in June moved up its 2008 presidential primary to Feb. 19, state voters will only have a partial say in allocating delegates. State Republicans will allocate about half of their delegates based on the primary and about half on Feb. 9 party caucuses. State Democrats, as in the past, will ignore results of the primary and allocate delegates using the results of its Feb. 9 caucuses. Seattle Times archives and news services WASHINGTON -- For months, national Democrats have patiently repeated their rules for next year's presidential primaries, reminding party leaders across the country that only a few select states are allowed to hold their events before early February.But the polite reminders could become unpleasant today, when a panel of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) meets over this summer's attempts to flout the rules.The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee is expected to vote today to sanction Florida for violating party rules by moving its primary up to Jan. 29, violating a party rule against holding a primary before Feb. 5. The action would deny Florida half -- and maybe all -- its delegates at the party's national convention next year and prohibit Democratic presidential candidates from campaigning in the state before the primary.The clash between a national party and one of the nation's biggest -- and most politically important -- states is the latest evidence that the decades-old system of picking presidential nominees is in crisis.Republican leaders also are struggling to maintain control over the schedule of voting and could similarly sanction Florida's Republican Party."The situation has gotten so chaotic, we have to do something about it," said one member of the DNC panel. "It's a problem for the candidates, who have no idea when the primaries are going to be."