The Democratic National Committee moved one step closer to making South Carolina the first nominating contest in the party primaries in 2024.
The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the DNC voted on Friday to strip Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status after technical problems during the caucus in the 2020 primary contest, according to the Associated Press.
Under the new guidelines approved by the DNC’s rules committee South Carolina’s primary will be on February 3, Nevada and New Hampshire’s contests on February 6, Georgia’s primary on February 13 and Michigan’s on February 27.
Only members from Iowa and New Hampshire objected to the proposal.
The shift will allow more diverse states, which are more representative of the base of the Democratic Party to go first in the nominating contest.
The vote comes after President Joe Biden endorsed the move earlier this week.
“Too often over the past fifty years, candidates have dropped out or had their candidacies marginalized by the press and pundits because of poor performances in small states early in the process before voters of color cast a vote,” Biden said.
Biden finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses and fifth in New Hampshire before finishing second in the more diverse Nevada primary. He won the South Carolina primary and swept the super Tuesday contests after.
The proposal by Rules and Bylaws Committee needs to be approved at a full DNC meeting, which will take place early next year.
