Allegations of Bias at Texas County Convention

Unlike most other counties in Texas, Collin County (just north of Dallas County) held its Democratic Party Convention on Sunday, March 30 at Frisco Conference Center. According to the convention website, this change was made due to the large number of delegates (3000+) expected and lack of a large enough venue on March 29, the day other Texas counties held their conventions.

The caucuses in several precincts had been contested because of allegations of misconduct; however, all but five of these complaints were dismissed (prior to the convention) by the county's Credentials Committee. At the convention, the five remaining complaints, which concerned delegates who were alleged to be ineligible because they did not live in the precinct where they caucused (24 Obama delegates, 3 Clinton), were decided in favor of the delegates. The reason purportedly given was "we don't want to disenfranchise anyone." It should be noted that the majority of the Credentials Committee were Obama supporters.

Delegates were to report to the conference center and begin signing in at 10:30 am. This was a 3-step procedure: first, as attendees stood in the long lines outside the convention center, party volunteers walked around with clipboards to check names off a list and to ask if each person was a delegate or an alternate. Approximately 45-60 minutes later, each attendee filled out a form with his/her name, address, phone number, e-mail if applicable, candidate supported, and precinct. Everyone standing in line was asked to fill out a form, regardless of whether the person was a delegate or an alternate, and the forms did not differentiate the two. These forms were collectively termed "Exhibit A."

In the third step, the delegates signed a computer printout that contained their personal information as obtained during the precinct caucuses, in order to certify that the information was correct. The printouts stated which persons were delegates and which were alternates. Individuals were issued badges and allowed to enter the conference center.

During the convention, the votes were tallied from "Exhibit A" forms and, separately, from the computer printouts. When the numbers did not match, the committee members counting votes were instructed by the chair of the rules committee, who was also the legal advisor for the Collin County Democratic Party, to introduce a motion accepting the results of "Exhibit A." According to reports, the convention had at that time been in session for over 8 hours and delegates wanted to go home. The motion was duly made and approved. Thus, the votes of alternates were counted in addition to votes of official delegates, potentially introducing a bias in the results. Because many precincts had more Obama alternates than Clinton alternates, the bias would have been in favor of Obama.

This may have been the most serious error that was observed at the convention itself - a combination of improper vote gathering and ad hoc rule changes. Violations of parliamentary procedure were also reported, such as delegates failing to obtain permission to speak from the chair, votes on resolutions taken without motions and seconds, and the reconvening of the convention soon after it had been adjourned (with plans to reconvene the next day). At the time it was reconvened, many individuals had already left, thinking they would return the next day.

A Clinton delegate reported harassment by members of the Obama delegation, including screamed accusations of racism, illegal delegate substitution, and ballot destruction, as well as derogatory epithets. She stated that the harassment was sufficiently traumatizing to cause her and the rest of the Clinton minority delegation to "shut down" from active involvement in the convention process. She also indicated that her precinct's list for at-large state delegate was altered after the convention was adjourned, with Clinton delegate names crossed out and additional Obama delegate names added. This list would be used by the Collin County Democratic Party to determine at-large delegates from the county.

Were these reported errors accidental? Or were they part of an organized effort to bias the convention towards Obama? The only way to find out is through careful investigation of the alleged irregularities to determine which ones are factual and why they occurred.