MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Randy Kelly, the chair of the Alabama Democratic Party, is considering mounting a legal challenge against the Democratic National Committee ahead of next week’s Democratic National Convention over the rejection of the state party’s delegates.
“At this juncture, it’s going to be a legal matter, and we’re still looking at a legal avenue,” Kelly told Alabama Daily News Tuesday.
The dispute began when earlier this year, the Alabama Democratic Party compiled a list of delegates to participate in next week’s DNC in Chicago, and sent that list to President Joe Biden’s campaign for approval.
Under DNC delegate selection rules, all Democratic presidential campaigns reserve the right to approve or reject a state party’s list of proposed delegates at their own discretion. In Alabama’s case, the Biden campaign rejected 36 party convention delegates chosen by Kelly and other party leadership.
Biden delegates that were approved by the Biden campaign went on to be elected in Alabama’s March 5 primary, with there being a subsequent 15-day period for the Alabama Democratic Party to file an objection to the DNC over denied delegates.
Kelly, however, did not file an objection within that period.
Furthermore, at-large and Party Leaders and Elected Officials delegates were scheduled to be elected by the state party on June 8 by the State Executive Committee, however, not enough members had attended the meeting to reach a quorum.
As a result, there were vacancies for at-large and PLEO delegates, and under the state party’s own delegate selection plan, the state’s delegation is given the authority to fill those vacancies.
The DNC Credential Committee – the ultimate authority in seating delegates – then went on to approve Alabama’s delegation on July 21.
Kelly, however, cried foul, and alleged that the DNC had engaged in an illegal subversion of the will of the party and Alabama voters.
“There may be a need for an injunction,” Kelly continued. “To me, that’s just basically stealing, it’s criminal. In fact, it’s the equivalent of Trump trying to take over the country and get electors.”
Kelly also accused former Sen. Doug Jones, without evidence, of orchestrating the state party’s chosen delegates being denied certification by the DNC, and told ADN that Jones was “trying to sabotage and control the party.”
In an email to AL.com, Jones denied having any involvement in the denials of the Alabama Democratic Party’s delegates, dismissing the claims as having no merit.
When asked why he felt the Alabama Democratic Party was targeted to have a large share of its delegates denied certification, Kelly alleged racist motivations.
“Racism, it’s the first time (the Alabama Democratic Party) has a Black chair that wasn’t hand-picked,” he said.
“President Biden didn’t know anything about this, and Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t know anything about this, this was done by folks who don’t live in the state of Alabama in collusion with some folks here in Alabama. I guarantee you they were not aware, both of them are blameless in this process.”
The DNC is scheduled next week in Chicago between Monday, Aug. 19 through Thursday, Aug. 22. Kelly has vowed to continue to challenge the denial of a sizable portion of the Alabama Democratic Party’s delegates, telling ADN that “the battle is not over yet.”