South Dakota Democrats can weigh in on presidential nomination

SIOUX FALLS – Results of Super Tuesday and subsequent Democratic Party state primaries should make South Dakota’s 23 delegates and four alternates to the Democratic National Convention a high priority for front-runners Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

This development, S.D. Democratic Party Executive Director Rick Hauffe said, is increasing interest in Democratic Party activism and in participating in the two delegate selection events in South Dakota scheduled for March.

“Super Tuesday blew the doors off of the notion that South Dakota’s delegate selection process will go unnoticed by national campaigns,” Hauffe said. “We are seeing unprecedented interest among people wanting to get active as Democrats and to help their choice for President win the nomination.”

The first delegate selection event in South Dakota will be caucus meetings held in each of South Dakota’s 35 legislative districts on Saturday, March 8, and the second is a statewide caucus to be held at the Senior Center in Pierre at noon on Saturday, March 22. Both events are designed to select the first 10 delegates and three alternates who will go to the Democratic National Convention in late August at Denver, Colo.

Those who want to participate must first sign a form to be a delegate at their local legislative district caucus on March 8. The signup forms are available from the SDDP office or county Democratic Party leaders, and they must be received by the SDDP office in Sioux Falls by March 4. Only registered Democrats who will be eligible to vote in the election and who send in signup forms may participate in the caucuses.

“Our office phones are ringing constantly from people wanting to become a delegate to the Democratic National Convention or who want to help Clinton or Obama,” Hauffe said. “We didn’t expect South Dakota to be the high priority it is at this point, but it’s clear that both campaigns are going to fight hard for every delegate and alternate who goes to Denver this summer.”

South Dakota’s 23-person delegation includes the 10 Congressional District delegates who will be chosen through the two-tiered caucus system in March and the results of the June 3 state primary election. In addition, there will be four alternates going to the national convention, including three alternates that will be chosen through the results of the June 3 primary election.

The other positions in South Dakota’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention are:

Seven “super delegate” positions which are automatically filled by the state party leadership and South Dakota’s Democratic members of Congress.

Six delegate positions and one alternate position which will be elected June 28 by the Democratic State Central Committee at the S.D. Democratic Party state convention in Oacoma.

Those wishing to participate in the March caucuses and in becoming one of the 10 delegates and three alternates chosen via the June 3 primary election should send their completed forms to the SDDP office. The address is P.O. Box 1485, Sioux Falls, SD 57101. The forms will also be available online soon on the SDDP website, www.sddp.org. The phone number for the SDDP office is 605-271-5405.

Hauffe said that Clinton and Obama must have a minimum of 2.025 delegates to win the nomination at the national convention. However, he said the fact that 842 delegates will be so-called “super delegates,” they are not bound by the rules to support one candidate over the other.

“As you watch Obama’s poll numbers rise and this race tightens up, you can see that those 842 super delegates and the status of John Edwards’ delegates will make a difference with who wins the nomination,” he said. “South Dakota’s 23 delegates are growing in importance every day as this primary rolls on.”