Democratic rules committee proposes bonus-delegate incentive for states holding late primaries

DNC panel proposes presidential primary changes

ST. LOUIS — A Democratic National Committee panel is proposing giving states that hold their presidential primaries later in the 2012 calendar year bonus delegates to the convention.

The Rules and Bylaws Committee approved a plan Thursday to award anywhere from 5 percent to 20 percent more delegates to states that hold contests in March and beyond.

The committee already has signed off on a plan to start the nominating process no earlier than February and reduce the number of superdelegates, from 20 percent of the total number of delegates to 15 percent. The full DNC will vote on all the changes Friday.