A Potential Superdelegate Problem Is Brewing

This post for members is from a reader with decades of experience in delegate counting at past Democratic conventions.

Consider this scenario for the Democratic National Convention in July. After no candidate achieves a majority among the 3979 pledged delegates voting on the first ballot,  the 771 unpledged superdelegates (who were not eligible to vote on the first ballot) join the vote on the second ballot. A candidate emerges with a narrow, 40-vote second ballot majority. It is later revealed that 50 of the superdelegates who voted for the winning candidate were on that candidate’s campaign payroll.