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Mayor Dixon will be in DC tomorrow to help decide what to do about Florida’s and Michigan’s Democratic primaries.

The two states held their primaries back in January, against party rules. Their delegates therefore may not be allowed to attend the convention and vote on the Democratic nominee. Dixon — as a member of the Credential Committee of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws panel — will join other members of the DNC tomorrow to make a decision on the delegates.

Party rules require that, at minimum, the states lose half of their votes as a penalty for holding their elections too early. Options to be discussed tomorrow include sending all the delegates to the convention but only allowing them a half-vote each, or sending half the delegates and allowing them full votes.

Despite the rules, Hillary Clinton is calling for the inclusion of all delegates and allowing them full votes, which would give her a distinct advantage over Obama. However, she seems to lack the majority vote on the Credentials Committee to make that happen: thirteen members of the committee support Clinton, eight for Obama, and nine are undecided.

Said Dixon about the situation: “I am just a strong believer that if an individual votes, their vote should be counted.”

What do you think? Should these delegates have a voice at the convention? The states knew what they were risking when they held early elections, but I doubt they had any idea just how crucial their votes would be at the end.

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