Democratic National Committee leaders on Saturday agreed to review concerns about how the Alabama Democratic Party operates, including its decision to eliminate several diversity caucuses.
The DNC’s Executive Committee voted to refer “all pending and future challenges and complaints” about the matter to its Rules and Bylaws Committee, according to a document. The move came a day after members expressed alarm about the state party's actions.
The Democratic National Committee in 2019 directed the Alabama Democratic Party to update its bylaws to include diverse voices in party affairs. That led to creating diversity caucuses for young voters, LTBTQ community members, Hispanics, Native Americans, people with disabilities and other groups.
But at its May meeting, the state party abolished some of those caucuses, with proponents arguing they were unneeded or diluted the power of Black voters who make up the majority of the state's Democratic electorate.
Forty Alabama Democrats filed a complaint concerning the May meeting and bylaws adopted during it, indicating they wanted the DNC to review the issues if they weren't resolved at the state level.
Randy Kelley, chair of the Alabama Democratic Party, has maintained that the new bylaws did not cut representation. He said Friday that state party leaders were prepared to go to hearings and “plead our case” if the national party intervened.
