Disenfranchised voters deserve a do-over

Few could have predicted the Democratic presidential nominating contest would be so close. The narrow spread of delegates separating Barack Obama from Hillary Clinton means every vote counts.

The Democratic National Committee stripped delegates from Florida and Michigan as punishment after those two states held primaries before Feb. 5. As a result, hundreds of thousands of voters feel disenfranchised. A legal and political frenzy could ensue, tarnishing the presidential election for many months. Florida and Michigan voters need to be heard.

One credible solution is for the state and national parties to split the costs of a do-over in Florida and Michigan. Do a new vote in the spring; do it in a vote-by-mail state party event.

The best choice would be regular state primaries, but they are costly and there may not be enough time to put them together.

The parties also could stage caucuses, but the limits of caucuses are well known to our state, which has primaries and caucuses. Caucuses are less inclusive because they leave out the elderly, disabled and other voters.

Michigan and Florida knew the rules when they leapfrogged to push their primaries closer to the front of the pack. This problem will persist until the parties establish a more-easily-policed national plan.

Some voters will assume any scheme that includes the two states is designed to help Clinton, who won Michigan and Florida. Barack Obama's name did not appear on the Michigan ballot.

This editorial page heartily supports Obama. The idea of a do-over has nothing to do with helping Clinton, everything to do with including voters.

A repeat ballot would be expensive. It would aggravate some voters. But everybody would be invited to vote by mail. Licking a stamp and sending in a new ballot would not amount to a major hardship.

Party rules would be upheld because the early rogue vote would be replaced by a party-sanctioned event. Vote-by-mail would be representative of voter sentiments in each state.

If a strong winner emerges in the weeks ahead, no fix may be needed.

But if the contest remains close, a do-over is a reasonable way to protect the integrity of the nominating process and the national election in November.