The vote, to be held in June, will determine whether to redo the election of David Hogg and PA Representative Malcolm Kenyatta.
In June, the Democratic National Committee will vote on whether to hold a redo of the election of David Hogg and Pennsylvania State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta as vice chairs, according to a Thursday evening meeting.
The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee determined during a virtual meeting that another vote will be held electronically from June 9th to 11th.
Kalyn Free, who lost the vice chair election in February, has said the two current vice chairs were elected under a flawed tabulation process.
Hogg alleges the move for another election is linked to his efforts to reform the party. Those efforts include plans to spend $20 million to primary older Democratic Members of Congress.
Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin recently said he instructed Hogg that he cannot serve as a DNC vice chair while also attempting to oust Democratic lawmakers.
“Let me be unequivocal, no DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election,” Martin said.
Martin expressed his respect for Hogg and added, “as I’ve said to him: If you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC.”
Recent reports revealed that Martin plans to propose expanding the DNC’s neutrality policy. Current policy restricts DNC officials from getting involved in presidential primaries, but Martin wants to apply this to primary elections across the board.
“We discussed the importance of officer neutrality last month at our officer retreat, and… I asked all of our officers to sign and abide by a neutrality pledge, which almost every officer did,” Martin said.
At the meeting that decided there will be a vote on whether to hold a redo election, Hogg said that the move “sends a horrible message to the public about [the DNC’s] ability to run elections.”
He added, “That’s why I believe that it should not go forward, and if it does, it does. It should not be done electronically or over mail.”
Representative Kenyatta said at the meeting that he “fundamentally” believes the original election was fair. If the vote to redo the vice chair election goes through, there will be an electronic vote from June 12th to 14th for a male vice chair and a second vote for a vice chair of any gender.
