LITTLE ROCK — A Tennessee lawyer who won 42 percent of the vote in the Democratic presidential primary earlier this week filed a federal lawsuit Friday claiming the party had violated his constitutional rights and disenfranchised tens of thousands of Arkansas voters by refusing to award delegates to him.
John Wolfe has also been denied delegates by the Louisiana Democratic Party after he netted 12 percent of that state’s primary vote in March.
Wolfe decided to sue first in Arkansas, he said, because state Democrats announced they wouldn’t award him delegates before Tuesday’s primary.
“They tried to dampen the vote,” the 58-year-old Chattanooga resident said on Friday.
Wo l f e missed deadlines in December and February to file paperwork informing the state party of the name of his authorized representative and affirming his support for the party’s affirmative-action delegate selection plan, which seeks to maximize the number of women, blacks, gays and other minorities chosen to represent Arkansas at the Democratic National Convention.
But his eight-page complaint argues that the party waived its objections to those missed deadlines when it accepted his $2,500 filing fee on March 1 and placed his name on the ballot.
“Completely in the collaborative tow of D.C. Democrats, the [Arkansas Democratic Party] publicly issued such statements in a purposeful attempt to tamp down voter enthusiasm for Wolfe in order to ensure a primary victory for Barack Obama,” states the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
The decision to deny Wolfe delegates “effectively disenfranchises” everyone who voted for him, according to the complaint.
Wolfe argues that he is “solicitous” towards minorities and homosexuals in his personal and profes- sional life, and no party rule explicitly states that delegates won’t be awarded because of his failure to file a delegate selection plan or designate an official campaign representative.
The complaint also states that “verification of a delegate’s private sexual orientation or transgender status, in order to balance a delegation along politically correct lines, could well require unconscionable intrusions into highly personal matters.”
The state party is reviewing the suit and had no immediate comment, said Candace Martin, party spokesman.
The party’s delegate selection plan contains procedures for appealing its decisions, but Wolfe said he didn’t pursue an appeal because he didn’t think he would be treated fairly.
Wolfe also said the party still hasn’t formally notified him that it won’t award him any delegates. Party officials said last week that four people had filed as Wolfe delegates. The state’s 55 delegates and three alternates will be selected at a June convention.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge James M. Moody. No hearing date has been set. The state party has three weeks to respond to Wolfe’s complaint.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 05/26/2012