ALBUQUERQUE — The state Democratic Party and Gov. Bill Richardson have canceled a much-anticipated summit set for later this month to discuss the future of the state Democratic presidential caucus, which was plagued with long waits for voters and ballot shortages in February.

Richardson and state Democratic Party chairman Brian Colón made a joint decision to cancel the April 25 summit, Josh Geise, the party's executive director, said Wednesday. A new date has not been set.

Geise said the summit is being delayed for scheduling reasons. The party is getting ready for the June 3 primary and the November general election, selecting delegates and preparing for a state central committee meeting April 26, the day after the canceled summit.

"We have a primary in two months, and we have what is probably the most important election of my lifetime in a little over 200 days," he said. "We have four years to have the conversation about the caucus."

Colón and Richardson had touted the summit in the days after the Feb. 5 caucus, when criticism about the problems was widespread, as a chance for the party to discuss whether or not to hold a similar contest in 2012.

Problems included voters having to wait up to three hours at some polling sites to cast ballots; too few ballots that in some cases led to extra ballots being handwritten; and a large number of provisional votes, which may have been caused by incomplete voter lists and took longer to count.

The summit will allow party members to talk about whether to hold another party-run caucus to choose a president in 2012, switch back to a state-run primary in June along with the Republicans or schedule the primary earlier in the year, which would require a change in state law, Geise said.

"As a party we're going to have a conversation about whether or not we're going to have caucus," he said.

Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley said the summit has only been postponed, not canceled. "Ultimately it will happen," he said. "What we want to do is get through this spring period."

The Republican Party accused Richardson of not being willing to face up to his own role in the troubled caucus. The state's first caucus in 2004 was Richardson's idea, and some party members said the governor, who dropped out of his own presidential race less than a month before the caucus, should have provided more support to the party.

"Any accounting of why the Democrats failed so miserably in the management of their caucus would assign part of the blame to Governor Richardson and to this point, that is something he hasn't been willing to accept," Republican Party spokesman Scott Darnell said.

Shipley called criticism that Richardson delayed the summit to avoid a rehash of the troubled caucus "ridiculous." "The governor is very concerned about it," he said.

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, a former state party chairwoman, said she was not part of the discussion to cancel the summit, but she thinks the party, if it decides to continue holding a caucus, should find some way to work on how to improve it. "The farther away it gets from the caucus, the harder it gets to get people to work on it," she said. "The time really is now to pay attention to it."

Shortly after the caucus, Denish said she talked with Colón about forming a committee to review the caucus.

About 10 party members from around the state have signed up to be on the committee, which will hear from rank-and-file party members about the caucus and how the party could do better in the future, Geise said. The committee could begin meeting in mid-April.

Several party volunteers interviewed said they were relieved there won't be a summit this spring because of their workload choosing delegates for the national convention in August and the primary election.

"I was disappointed because I'd like to get going on this mess as soon as possible, but at the same time, I have so much on my plate right now that it was kind of a godsend that it was postponed," said Ana Canales, Bernalillo County chairwoman for the Democratic Party.

Lynn Jacobs, a party volunteer from Albuquerque, said volunteers are too busy with delegate elections to the national convention, so she doesn't mind the summit being delayed. "It's like overkill right now to try to handle everything. As wonderful as all the volunteers are, there aren't ever enough of them," she said.

The caucus was narrowly won by Hillary Rodham Clinton, a victory that wasn't announced until nine days after balloting. Clinton won 14 New Mexico delegates while Barack Obama received 12. Nationwide, Obama leads Clinton in delegates, 1,638-1,501.




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