Bernie Sanders Michigan victory last month was historic. Pollsters wrote him off by 20 points. And virtually every establishment Democrat in the state backed Hillary Clinton, including all of the Michigan’s Democratic representatives in Washington — two senators and five representatives.

While the voters rendered public opinion polls irrelevant, Michigan officials’ support for Clinton still matters. To win the Democratic party’s nomination, a candidate must garner 2,383 delegates. About 30 percent of that number are superdelegates— lawmakers, governors and party leaders who can vote for whomever they please.

It is a highly undemocratic process. 

Out of Michigan’s 17 superdelegates, 10 are supporting Clinton. The rest remain uncommitted. Not a single one supports Sanders. Clinton’s Michigan superdelegates include U.S. Reps. Sander Levin, Brenda Lawrence, Debbie Dingell, Dan Kildee and John Conyers; and Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters.

Despite their constituents’ votes, these elected officials are disregarding the outcome of the election and still standing with Clinton.

“Personally I’ve known (Clinton) for a long time, so I was predisposed in her direction,” Kildee said less than a week after Sanders’ Michigan victory, vowing to grant his super delegate vote to the losing candidate.

The good news is that superdelegates’ votes are not final until the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia in July.

Michigan’s super delegate would do themselves, their party and the state a disservice if they betrayed the voters.

Despite being a blue state and voting for Democratic presidential candidates since 1992, Michigan is currently ruled by Republicans. 

The Michigan GOP is in the governor’s mansion. The state’s attorney general is a Republican. Republicans have a majority in the state House of Representatives and a super majority in the Michigan Senate.

Democrats’ setbacks at the state level are a result of their failure to connect with and mobilize the voters.

If Michigan’s superdelegates vote against the will of the people, they would further alienate the electorate.

Democrats need the enthusiasm of youth, which Sanders rallied successfully. 

The phenomenon of superdelegates is misleading and defies the basic democratic principle of one person, one vote.

Although superdelegates can and do switch allegiances, corporate media include projections of their vote in the delegate count, which almost triples Clinton’s lead and makes it seem that Sanders does not stand a chance.

For example, Clinton has won 1,280 pledged delegates via elections, compared to Sanders’ 1,030  delegates. 

If you add the superdelegates, the math changes drastically. Only 30 superdelegates support Sanders as of today. Clinton has the backing of 469 superdelegates. 

That’s why, at The Arab American News, we have excluded superdelegates from our weekly infographs that show where things stand in the primaries. We urge other news outlets to do the same.

In the 2008 primary, scores of superdelegates who originally backed Clinton flocked to Barack Obama’s camp to adhere to the will of the people.

We call on Michigan’s superdelegates to pledge support for Sanders in the spirit of democracy and fair representation.