Over 800 National Delegates Vote NO on Platform, Insist on Medicare for All

By Josh Stanfield of Activate Virginia

For the past several weeks, a petition has been circulating throughout state delegations to the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Originating from the Nevada Sanders National Delegates, the statement ends in a pledge: “to vote against any 2020 Platform that does not include a universal, single-payer, Medicare-For-All platform plank.”

Since the 2020 Democratic Party Platform – in the middle of a global pandemic – failed to satisfy this condition, well over 800 National Delegates are voting “No” on the Platform starting 3pm ET today.

The following Virginia National Delegates signed the statement, the language of which you can find below:

Chauncey Lee (CD1), Shelley Pineo-Jensen (CD1), Josh Stanfield (CD2), Kimberly Tucker (CD3), Jonathan Kelly (CD3), Rashad Pearson (CD4), Chelsea Higgs Wise (CD4), Leila Choudhury (CD5), Joshua Palmer (CD5), Christopher Fury (CD6), Alexa Leister-Frazier (CD6), Amy Dean (CD 7), Thomas Crews (CD 7), Iris Chadab (CD8), Andrew Parr (CD8), Tanner Stroupe (CD9), Zeina Hutchison (CD10), Sandra J. Klassen (CD11), Ibraheem Samirah (At Large), Amber Beichler (At Large), Jessica Sun (At Large), Aaraj Vij (At Large), Marwa Eltaib (At Large), Abrar Omeish (PLEO), Diego Jauregui (Alternate).

For a full list of signatories.

Delegate Pledge Supporting Medicare for All

Whereas, this Country is currently in the throes of a catastrophic public health crisis; and

Whereas, this emergency has led to massive job losses due to the Country’s response to that crisis; and

Whereas, millions of Americans have lost their healthcare insurance because of those job losses at a time when healthcare is needed most; and

Whereas, this crisis has highlighted the need to separate healthcare from employment; and

Whereas, we believe that healthcare is a basic human right, not a luxury; and

Whereas, our current, for-profit health care system is inherently racist and discriminatory; and

Whereas, the majority of Americans now believe that a universal, single-payer, Medicare-For-All system is the best way to achieve equitable, affordable and accessible healthcare for all Americans; and

Whereas, the Democratic Party and their Platform Committee process has failed, to date, to incorporate a clear and progressive platform plank for Medicare-For-All for adoption by the 2020 National Convention; therefore

Be it resolved that we, the undersigned delegates to the Democratic National Convention, pledge to vote against any 2020 Platform that does not include a universal, single-payer, Medicare-For-All platform plank.