Two of the 65 Iowans who were part of the state’s delegation at the Democratic National Convention did not cast their votes for Barack Obama last night.
Congressmen Dave Loebsack of Iowa City and Leonard Boswell of Des Moines skipped the convention in Charlotte and, therefore, were not present to cast their ballots.
“That has to be personally signed,” Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Sue Dvorsky told Radio Iowa this morning. “There’s no proxy and there’s no way to do it beforehand either.”
A third delegate, Bob Carr of Dubuque, was not feeling well and did get the ballot signed before Iowa’s roll call votes were announced late Wednesday, but Carr did sign the document just before it was handed in for convention records. As you may recall, 22 of Iowa’s 28 delegates at last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa voted for Ron Paul, while only six voted for the party’s nominee, Mitt Romney. Dvorsky said Iowa Democrats in Charlotte are united behind one candidate.
“One hundred percent committed to Obama,” Dvorsky says.
As Radio Iowa reported earlier this week, Dvorsky passed up her chance to announce the Iowa delegation’s tally and, instead, asked two college students to do it. Andrea Nemecek, a 20-year-old from Cedar Rapids, began by talking about the “impossible odds” Barack Obama faced in 2008.
“Iowans from small towns and big cities came together in support of a common belief: that people who love this country can change it,” Nemecek said. “And what began as a journey in Iowa became a national movement focused on turning shared responsibilities into shared prosperity.”
Eighteen-year-old Antonio Montoya of Clive then emphasized the “early voting” option available in Iowa, starting on September 27.
“Iowans will once again be the first state in the nation to cast their ballots for President Barack Obama,” Montoya said, to cheers. “Tonight, united by the progress we’ve made and the opportunity to continue that progress, Iowans cast 62 votes for Barack Obama.”
Nearly all of the other states and territories had congressional candidates or long-term party elders announce the vote tallies during the convention roll — prompting the convention secretary announcing the votes to say: “Thank you, Iowa, for your young people.”
AUDIO of Nemecek and Montoya announcing Iowa’s votes during convention roll call.