The Democrat Party’s rules committee Saturday struck a deal between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, agreeing to reduce by about 60 percent the number of “super delegates” who are not bound by voters in the primaries.
Members of Congress, governors and “distinguished party leaders” remain unpledged and can support the nominee of their choice, but all other unpledged superdelegates are “required to cast their vote at the Convention for candidates in proportion to the vote received for each candidate in their state,” according to the Washington Post.
That would still leave about 280 delegates who are unaccountable to voters.
“This is a tremendous victory for Sen. Sanders’ fight to democratize the Democratic Party and reform the Democratic nominating process,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “We were pleased to work with the Clinton campaign to enact this historic commission.”
The new rules are the mandatory part of a recommendation that will be issued by a “unity commission” established by the committee. The commission will also consider other matters, like ways to expand the number of voters who can participate in the primaries.
