Tulsi Gabbard speaking at Town Hall. (Scott Morgan/Reuters)

The race for the nomination to take ownership of the keys to the White House is necessarily a grueling process. To become one of the most powerful people in the world candidates should be put through rigorous paces in order to prove to the people they are suitable for the job in an open process where the people can watch and decide who is the best person for the job. But the critical points here are “open process” and “let the people decide.”

From the very beginning neither of those fundamental factors in this crucial function of democracy felt true. Iowa was an abject, unmitigated disaster which pretty much thumbed its nose at the concepts of ‘open’ and ‘democracy’ and remains unclear, even now, who won there. There has been an overwhelming feeling amongst Democratic voters that the vote is being skewed away from their favored candidates and towards the DNC’s favored establishment candidate. And in the case of our girl, Tulsi Gabbard, there have been attempts to erase her candidacy completely, with her non-invitation to town-halls (despite qualifying), voters being told repeatedly she is no longer running, and her being pushed to the back of the Democratic Party dinner, only getting to speak after Tom Steyer, and incredibly when lots of people were leaving (because they weren’t told she was speaking!)

Understandably this has been hugely confusing and upsetting for Tulsi’s many fans, voters and the team working for her, who should be treated as every bit as legitimate and relevant as those of any of the other candidates. The great news is, despite the best efforts of some, Tulsi is still very much in the race, and will now be heading out to South Carolina and then Utah ahead of Super Tuesday.

Tulsi has shown strength, tenacity and the fact she has a strong and loyal voter base who must now get to see her treated fairly and representatively by the DNC. It shouldn’t need to be said, but it seems it needs to be, so once again — it is not up to the DNC, who takes the eventual nomination — it’s up to the voters. Tulsi, her team and her voters don’t want special treatment, but the same treatment that all the other candidates get, and it’s way past the time she and they get just that. She’s in the race, on the ballot and supported by many, and the DNC have to deal with it and stop tampering with democracy.

Don’t let anyone tell you who you can vote for, or that you should vote for a candidate ‘who can win’ as if the last four years have shown us anything it’s that voters have their own hearts and minds and it is they, not polls or predictions, who decides who wins!

Chloe Combi, writer @StandwithTulsi