CLEVELAND, OH – Yesterday, conservatives attempted to force a roll call vote on a series of rule changes that were designed to keep the RNC from maintaining an iron fist over the nomination process. They successfully got majorities of seven state delegations that were required, plus two extra for good measure. The convention chair claimed that three states had withdrawn their petitions, thus leaving the petition without the required number of signatories, so there would not be a roll call vote.

Of course, the RNC is not saying who the three states were, or how their petitions came to be withdrawn. So conservatives do not know whether this even actually happened, much less the circumstances under which it happened. For all we know, Priebus and crew made it up. But the scuttlebutt is that the petitions from Alaska, Minnesota, and Iowa were either withdrawn or somehow disallowed.

Today we intend to talk to as many delegates as we can who were involved in the process to get to the bottom of it. Fred Brown, an Alaska delegate who is part of the rules committee, has released this statement illustrating how the convention chair completely and willfully ignored Alaska’s petition during the chaos:

It has been reported that Alaska did not turn in its required signatures to contribute toward the rules committee roll call vote.

As a rules committee member, I had secured more than enough signatures from Alaska delegates, but the convention secretary was not at the designated location where I was told to submit them.

Some said she was hiding. Others said she was protected by guards. Regardless, I was told I could also present the signatures from the floor.

Nevertheless, when the vote occurred, my mic was not turned on. When I attempted to present these signatures at the stage, my effort was ignored by the chair, and the security guard turned me away.

The effort was made even more difficult by Alaska’s late-arriving bus and slow security lines at the entrance.

Overall, this was not a good demonstration of delegate accommodation, nor of full, open, honest debate of the rules as was promised during the rules committee orientation.

Fred Brown

Rules Committee

Member, Alaska