Democratic Party of Georgia Changing Delegate Selection Process To Virtual Experience

ATLANTA – On Saturday March 14th, the Georgia Secretary of State moved Georgia’s Presidential Preference Primary to Tuesday May 19th. Today, out of concern for public health and with the approval of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG) released updates to Georgia’s Delegate Selection Plan to move all delegate selection activities to a virtual experience.

Democratic Party of Georgia Chairwoman Nikema Williams released the following statement:

“In the face of COVID-19, all Georgians are facing unprecedented challenges — and we will rise to meet them together. To protect public health while continuing to engage Georgians everywhere, we are moving all parts of Georgia’s delegate selection process to be done virtually.

“Our team is making every effort to make sure that Georgians can have their voices heard and run for delegate without having to risk themselves or their loved ones. This is an incredible opportunity for us to open up our process and make participation more accessible for all, removing travel time, financial barriers, and physical ability as requirements for participation. At the end of the day, these innovations will help us to build the most diverse delegation in Georgia history, setting a new precedent for accessibility for years to come.

These methods aren’t what we anticipated at the beginning of this process, but our goal hasn’t changed: Georgia Democrats will turn Georgia blue in 2020.”

Below are key changes made to Georgia’s Delegate Selection Plan:

• Event dates have been adjusted to reflect the change of date for Georgia’s Presidential Preference Primary. 
• All voting for delegates has been converted from in-person requirements to remote voting, allowing Georgians to elect delegates from the safety of their homes.
• All meetings of Georgia’s delegation have been moved to virtual meetings in advance of the Convention.
• Rather than registering to vote in delegate elections in-person, Georgians will have one week to register to become electors for their district-level elections, and will be able to select their delegate choices through online voting.
• District-level delegate selection will now take place before the May 19th primary, with the results of those elections ranking delegate candidates according to vote totals and gender rules.
• After the Presidential Primary, election results will determine the proportional allotment of delegates at the district level or statewide level.

Additional information and updates will be shared soon. The full plan, including these changes, is available here.

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