Councilmembers Marion Barry and Jack Evans aren’t leaving much to chance in their efforts to try and secure spots as delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte later this year.

On Saturday, District Democrats will vote to fill 14 delegate slots (for the full details of the complicated way the District’s 44 delegates get chosen, see here). Barry and Evans have teamed up to form the “DC’s Official Obama 2012 Slate,” which also includes Mayor Vince Gray‘s deputy chief of staff, Sheila Bunn, and Councilmember Michael Brown’s spokesman David Meadows.

The slate is paying for two buses to drive Barry and Evans supporters to the University of the District of Columbia, where Saturday’s voting will take place, Evans says.

“Get on the bus and VOTE ,” wrote Barry’s constituent services staffer Jackie Ward to community listservs in Ward 8. (No, she didn’t use her official D.C. government email account.)

Evans says another bus will be leaving from Ward 2. He says the slate will be doing some fundraising to pay for the buses.

Keep in mind that councilmembers can compete amongst themselves for three delegate spots reserved for elected officials in May, a fact that’s upset some activists who don’t think Barry and Evans should be competing with the regular folk.

But Evans says this is what democracy looks like, baby.

“I want to win,” he says. “At every step I’m going to try and be a delegate.”

Evans has been a delegate at every convention since 1992, save for 2004 when he backed Howard Dean and things fell apart.

“Being a delegate is great,” Evans says. “In practical terms it gives you a badge and you can go anywhere, anywhere.”

Well, maybe not everywhere.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery