Subject: DNC Director of Party Affairs & Delegate Selection Patrice Taylor on Medium: Years in the Making
From: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
To: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2016 18:14:03 +0000

Years in the Making<https://medium.com/@patricetaylor/years-in-the-making-e8cdd8e83022#.z2mgbavz9>

How the DNC prepared to nominate the next President of the United States
By Patrice Taylor, Director of Party Affairs & Delegate Selection at the Democratic National Committee

We’re less than 100 days away from the 2016 Democratic National Convention in beautiful Philadelphia, PA, where Democrats from every state and territory will come together, and our party will nominate the 45th President of the United States. If history teaches us anything, it will be an exciting moment!

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What you might not know is just how long it takes to plan and prepare for the Convention that will set our nominee on the path to victory in November. Our party has been working for years to make sure that the process for selecting our nominee is open, transparent, fair, and reflects our values as Democrats. I’ve been there every step of the way and wanted to share what we’ve been doing to prepare for the big moment in Philly.

2014: Committee Meetings (a lot of them!)

The Democratic National Committee is just like a lot of other committees you may have served on: It’s made up of committee members elected in every state and territory, and those members serve on subcommittees that have jurisdiction over various aspects of party business. I work closely with all of the subcommittees, particularly with the Rules and Bylaws Committee, which is responsible for determining the rules for the presidential nominating process. In 2014 alone, the Rules and Bylaws Committee held five public meetings to finalize the Delegate Selection Rules for the 2016 Convention.

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Delegates on the 2012 Democratic National Convention floor

For the past 30 years, the party’s delegate selection rules have included a number of unpledged “super” delegates (about 15% of the total number of delegates). These party leaders, just like the delegates allocated through each state’s primary or caucus, each get one vote on the convention floor.

Here’s the most important thing to take away from what we decided in 2014 (and for every presidential contest since the 1980s): Unpledged delegates have never changed the outcome of an election. We decided to, once again, keep our party leaders included at every stage of the nominating process, but the ultimate decision will be made by delegates who were selected through caucuses and primaries.

2015: The Spotlight is on State Parties

Our caucuses and primaries are driven by state parties using these contests as tools to engage voters. In 2015, every state party had to submit its proposed delegate selection plan to the Rules and Bylaws Committee for review. The committee held many meetings (over lots and lots of coffee) to make sure that the state party plans complied with our official delegate selection rules and reflected our party’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

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Delegates at the 2012 Democratic National Convention

To help ensure that a state’s process reflects the values of our party and the political realities of the state, all delegate selection plans were open for public comment for at least 30 days, so that voters could review the plan and have a say in what their state’s nominating process would be. States also submitted inclusion and outreach plans to make sure all communities would be able to participate in this important process.

2016: Having Your Say

After all of the planning, it’s time to select the delegates who will attend the Convention and will nominate our candidate for President of the United States. Following the processes set by the state and territorial Democratic parties and approved by the Rules and Bylaws Committee last year, Democrats all across the country have been making their voices heard by participating in their state’s primary or caucus.

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Based on how Democrats in your state voted, delegates are proportionally allocated to our presidential candidates. This is different than many GOP state parties’ rules — none of our contests are winner-take-all. If your candidate gets at least 15% of the vote, they have delegates who reflect your state’s vote at the convention in Philadelphia.

While Democratic delegates are not legally bound, they are pledged to represent in good faith the intentions of those who elected them. Also, all delegate candidates are reviewed by the presidential campaigns they are supporting before they are eligible to be elected as a delegate.

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Delegates at the 2012 Democratic National Convention

July will be here before we know it, and all your state’s delegates will be packing up and heading to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. I know that the energy of Democrats from across the globe coming together for the Democratic National Convention will set our candidate on a path towards victory. See you in Philadelphia!

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Patrice Taylor is the Director of Party Affairs & Delegate Selection at the Democratic National Committee

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