The Democratic National Committee's credentials committee voted Thursday to recommend the revocation of the credentials of Alabama Democratic Party chair Nancy Worley and vice-chair Randy Kelley

The decision by the DNC's Credentials Committee followed a hearing in which Alabama Democratic Party chair Nancy Worley — who was present for the hearing — and party leaders were all but accused of dragging their feet on orders to update state party bylaws and hold new leadership elections.

"This has sort of been a textbook example of delay, delay, delay, delay," said Harold Ickes, who led negotiations on the DNC's behalf. "We’re mystified."

The recommendation needs the approval of the DNC.

Ickes and Yvette Lewis, who also worked on the issue, read a lengthy timeline detailing efforts to come to a resolution with the party, which they said was studded by delays and calls not returned.

Worley, who was present for the credentials committee hearing, said she had received sometimes contradictory instructions from the national party. But she also accused the committee of trying to minimize African Americans' voting power, suggesting there would be "a special circle in hell as hot as it can be" for those who voted that way.

"I’ve experienced this for one whole year now," Worley said. "I have done everything within my power to make this work. And if you think you can do it better, come to Montgomery, Alabama, and sit down in my chair. And I will put you to work."

The state party has faced internal dissension after a nearly a decade of reverses that have left Democrats largely out of power in Alabama. With the exception of U.S. Sen. Doug Jones’ election in 2017, the party has lost every statewide election since 2008, and has lost ground in the state legislature in every contest during that time.

Critics accuse Worley and Joe Reed, the Vice-Chair of Minority Affairs for the party, of failing to build the party at the grassroots level and not supporting candidates running for office. They have also criticized a provision in the state party by-laws that allows Reed to name members to the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC), without oversight from the party itself.

Worley has pointed to candidate recruitment efforts and says Democrats are trying to pay off accumulated debts, leaving little room for investment.

Worley managed to hold off a Doug Jones-backed challenge to her leadership of the party in August 2018, but the DNC ordered new elections last February after a challenge from some Alabama Democrats, finding some of the members of the SDEC did not have proper credentials. The DNC also ordered a review of the party by-laws on diversity, saying the state party needed to provide for Hispanic, Asian, youth, disabled and LGBTQ representation on the SDEC.

Since the February ruling, the national and state party have been in stalemate. Ickes and Lewis described repeated frustrations with reaching Worley and arranging meetings to address the issues the party raised. At one point in June, Ickes said, the national and state party went 21 days without speaking with Worley.

"For three weeks, Ms. Worley refused to even have a phone call with us to discuss scheduling a conference call on that draft," he said.

The DNC rejected by-law changes proposed by the state party earlier this month, and signaled that it wanted the state party to change how the minority caucus selects at-large members for the SDEC. It set an Aug. 17 deadline for new elections; however, that deadline passed without elections being held.

Worley, along with attorney Benjamin Maxymuk, argued that other state parties allow subcommittees to elect members to their party committees. They also suggested a 1990 consent order requiring greater minority participation in the Alabama Democratic Party complicated their efforts to come into compliance. The two also suggested that the state party was given contradictory information about adopting an affirmative action plan and revising by-laws in the party, being told sometimes that one had to come first, and at other times that the other did.

Maxymuk also praised Worley's sacrifices for the party, noting she did not take a salary in her position and had traveled throughout the state.

"It disappoints me when I hear from detractors in our state," he said. "It’s fair game to impugn action of leadership. But when I hear them impugn character in terms of bad faith, intentional delay — I’m disappointed by that."

Worley promptly accused her opponents of bad faith, suggesting they challenged her election because they lost.

"The problem is if we had not won that election ... there never would have been a challenge," she said. " And so it all had to do with who won and who was mad because we’ve won."

She also accused the national party of withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state, and invoked the memories of civil rights activists while heatedly suggesting her opponents were undermining their legacy.

"You’re going to be burning in hell for taking away people’s voting rights," she said.

Worley's inflammatory rhetoric drew pushback from many members of the committee, including co-chair Patrice Taylor.

"That is just absolutely not the case," she said.

Ickes said the 1990 consent order only directed the party to take action, not to adhere to a specific remedy. Richard Ruoco, an attorney for those challenging the election, also noted that Rep. Christopher England, D-Tuscaloosa, who is African American, seconded the nomination of Peck Fox, who challenged Worley in the August 2018 election.

"He made that nomination because the party was in a disaster," he said. "It was nearly bankrupt."

It's not clear when new leadership elections might be held. Worley plans to seek reelection. Will Boyd, the Democrats’ 2018 nominee for lieutenant governor, and Tabitha Isner, the party’s 2nd congressional district nominee last year, are also running for chair.