Plans aired to resolve Fla. primary mess

WASHINGTON, March 14 (UPI) -- Florida Democratic leaders' plan to rerun the state's primary election by mail was rejected by presidential hopefuls and the state's congressional delegation.

U.S. Sens. Barack Obama D-Ill., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., rejected it, as did Florida's entire U.S. House of Representatives Democratic delegation, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Critics said it would be hard to verify signatures to avoid fraud and some questioned the legality for Florida's election officials to oversee a party-run primary.

"The hurdles are so high, you'd have to be an Olympian to jump them and you might not make the last one," Susan A. MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida, told the Times.

Even state party Chairwoman Karen L. Thurman admitted the plan faced obstacles.

Florida and Michigan -- which may be nearing a resolution -- conducted their party primaries before Super Tuesday, which went against party rules. The National Democratic Committee stripped them of their delegates and now Democrats are searching for a way to lift the states' punishment.

Some of the suggestions include primary or caucus do-overs, mail-in primaries, firehouse caucuses, or apportion the delegates according to the primary results or some hybrid allocation.