If the DNC’s Unity Reform Commission promotes caucuses and attacks primaries, as from their Twitter activity it would seem that commission members and Our Revolution members Nomiki Konst and James Zogby are doing, then it is in violation of the mandate that created it in the first place.
As stated in the July 23, 2016 resolution establishing the Unity Reform Commission, the commission is tasked with expanding the use of primary elections as a top priority and, where caucuses exist, doing everything possible to ameliorate the bad participation-stifling effects of caucuses by making them more like primaries:
Section 2. Manner of Voting.
RESOLVED FURTHER: That the Unity Reform Commission shall consider and make appropriate recommendations regarding revisions to the Delegate Selection Rules for the 2020 Democratic National Convention with respect to the manner of voting used during the presidential nominating process with a goal of increasing voter participation and inclusion through grassroots engagement of the Party’s voter base during and in-between presidential election cycles. The Commission shall make recommendations to encourage the expanded use of primary elections. The Commission shall make specific recommendations regarding the steps necessary to ensure that, in states where caucuses are conducted, eligible voters’ ability to participate in the caucuses are protected. The Commission shall make recommendations as to how caucuses can be less burdensome and more inclusive, transparent and accessible to participants. Specific consideration shall be given to so-called firehouse caucuses and other methods that will permit expanded and higher volumes of voter participation. These steps shall include ensuring caucuses are well-run, accessible, transparent and that the delegates allocated to the national convention fairly reflect the will of the voters expressed during the caucuses. The Commission shall make specific recommendations to streamline the caucus realignment process, including measures to accommodate increased voter participation and decrease the time necessary to conduct the caucus. The Commission shall make specific recommendations that requires caucuses to publish the specific headcount at all caucus locations and to maintain sufficient records to make a post-caucus review and re-canvass of the results possible.
It’s a well-established fact that caucuses get far less turnout than primaries. Four times as many people voted in the May 2016 Washington state Democratic primary as took part in the March 2016 Washington state Democratic caucus — even though the caucus and not the primary would be what determined which candidate got the bulk of Washington’s delegates to the nominating convention in Philadelphia that July.
It’s also clear, from reading the Unity commission resolution adopted at the Philadelphia convention, that the persons who wrote it were quite aware of the many problems with caucuses, hence the strong preference for primaries.