State Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller has filed a federal lawsuit in South Florida demanding that the Democratic Party seat all of Florida’s delegates at the national convention.

Geller, of Cooper City, argues that the Democratic Party broke its own rules and violated constitutional equal protection guarantees by fully banning the Florida delegation in response to the state’s setting its primary date too early to meet party rules, Jan. 29, he contends.

Geller claims the national party didn’t adequately investigate whether Florida Democrats were willfully responsible for changing the primary date, then failed to penalize other states that broke the same rules. He says that the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

Geller’s lawsuit lists as plaintiffs one Florida convention delegate pledged to Hillary Clinton and one Barack Obama delegate.

Himself an uncommitted superdelegate, Geller argues that Republicans in the state Legislature, not Democrats, were primarily responsible for changing the primary date, and that the Democratic Party is only hurting itself by punishing Florida voters as result. Three polls, he said, show that up to 30 percent of likely Democratic voters in Florida will either stay home or vote Republican if the state’s delegation is not seated at the convention.

Two other lawsuits have already been filed over the issue, neither with any success so far—one by Sen. Bill Nelson and one by Tampa Democratic Party consultant Vic DiMaio and county party Chairman Mike Steinberg.

Richard Epstein, lead counsel in Geller’s lawsuit, said at a press conference Thursday that Geller’s suit raises different legal questions. “We also have the benefit of some hindsight,” he said. “We have had the primary now.”

Geller warned that if the situation is not resolved now, “we’ll be back here in three years,” because the state’s Republican Legislature is not going to change the date to comply with national Democratic Party rules.

The lawsuit also notes the DNC asked Florida Democrats to hold a caucus instead to choose the delegates, in order to comply with national party rules.

That, Geller argues, would have violated the Civil Rights Act of 1967. It requires Florida and several other states to obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Justice prior to changing election rules, to ensure that minority voters are not disenfranchised.

Geller said a caucus wouldn’t have been approved, and that the only official in Florida legally authorized to seek the approval is Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum.

“Yeah, I’m sure he was going to go out of his way to the help the Democrats,” Geller said.

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