The Democratic National Committee has set a June vote to decide whether it will hold a redo of the election of David Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as vice chairs.
The move stems from a challenge to how the initial vice chairs election was conducted in February but also comes amid a party rift over Hogg’s decision to support primary challengers to Democratic members of Congress he deems “ineffective.”
DNC members will vote electronically from June 9-11 on whether to hold a redo of the election, according to a DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting Thursday.
If a majority of DNC members agree to hold a do-over vote, a new election to fill the positions would be held in the following days. DNC members would vote electronically for a new male vice chair from June 12-14. A second vote for a vice chair of any gender would then be held from June 15-17.
Speaking at the committee meeting Thursday, Hogg objected to the vote, which he said, “sends a horrible message to the public about our inability to run elections.”
“If we were to redo this election, it truly just sends a horrible message that we really don’t want out there at this moment,” he said. “That’s why I believe that it should not go forward, and if it does … it should not be done electronically or over mail.”
Kenyatta said he believes the initial election was held “fairly” and called for a candidate forum if the party does move forward with a do-over vote.
Earlier this month, the DNC’s Credentials committee recommended a redo of the election due to how the vote was conducted. Kalyn Free, a party activist from Oklahoma, challenged the results a few weeks after the February 1 election, arguing the party had violated its parliamentary rules in how it conducted the vote, in which Hogg and Kenyatta won two of the three vice chair slots.
The challenge relates to the procedure by which the election was conducted given the complex gender parity requirements that govern the makeup of the DNC’s group of elected officers.
Separately, the DNC is also weighing a new proposal put forth by DNC Chair Ken Martin that would officially require elected party leaders to stay neutral in primaries. The DNC is expected to vote on that measure at an August meeting.
CNN’s Ethan Cohen contributed to this report.
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