A lawsuit challenging the Democratic National Committee's handling of Florida's delegates in the presidential primary is scheduled to be heard in a federal appeals court in Atlanta tomorrow. Tampa attorney Michael Steinberg filed the case on behalf of Florida voter Vic DiMaio in August 2007, after the DNC stripped Florida of its convention delegates as punishment for scheduling its presidential primary too early. A federal district judge dismissed the case in May, rejecting DiMaio's claim that the party practiced reverse discrimination by letting South Carolina and Nevada hold early primaries based on their large percentage of African-American and Latin voters.

In a news release, DiMaio said he is extremely pleased Barack Obama won the November general election, but the Florida law setting the date of presidential primaries remains on the books and could result in "the exact same crisis" in the future. "Our lawsuit is about fairness to the voters of Florida," DiMaio said.

In the end, national party leaders voted to restore the 211-member Florida delegation's full voting authority at the convention in August 2008.   

Janet Zink, Times saff writer

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