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Wis. Dems to vote on future of superdelegates

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U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been battling for the Democratic party's presidential nomination since February.
 
Now, according to NBC's delegate tracker, Clinton can clinch the nomination on Tuesday if she gets just 68 more delegates. Those totals include "superdelegates," where experts say Clinton holds an advantage of nearly 500.
 
And the future of superdelegates will no doubt be a heated point during the state Democratic party convention in Green Bay, this weekend.
 
Sanders won Wisconsin's primary with 57 percent of the vote back in April. But six state superdelegates say they're backing Clinton.
 
There are a number of resolutions to be voted on at the party convention Saturday, including one that calls for the end to the superdelegate system, which Sanders and many of his supporters are calling for.
 
More than 1,200 Democrats are expected to fill the halls of the Radisson Convention Center, in Ashwaubenon, starting Friday morning. 
 
"It's bringing all of our grassroots organizers together, from all over the state," says state party Chair Martha Laning. "It just builds that excitement." 
 
Laning says public outcry over Republican-backed voter ID laws is helping unite Wisconsin's Democrats.
 
"It just keeps building on that distrust that's here, in Wisconsin," says Laning.
 
But there's a growing distrust felt by Democrats nationwide over superdelegates, or party insiders who can support whomever they choose.
 
Republicans don't use them during their presidential nomination process, and many Sanders supporters are angry only one Wisconsin superdelegate has pledged to vote for him.
 
"There's strong feelings both ways about whether the process does work as it is now, or whether it really needs improvement," says Democratic State Rep. Amanda Stuck, of Appleton. "So, I do expect it to get heated." 
 
Backers of the resolution claim "superdelegates have eroded the faith of the [Democratic] base," as stated in the resolution.
 
But Rep. Stuck says she welcomes civil discourse.
 
"It will encourage us to really grow as a party," says Stuck, "to challenge us to be the best we can." 
 
But some voters admit they're not happy with any of it.
 
"I'm not really happy with any candidate, and I think the American public... is disillusioned in general," says St. Norbert graduate Camille Hanna, "and that's why we have such extreme candidates." 
 
Regardless of the vote Saturday, the superdelegate resolution is non-binding, meaning Wisconsin's superdelegates wouldn't have to follow it.