The Democratic National Committee is set to dramatically reduce the power and influence of "superdelegates" in selecting the party's presidential nominee, ahead of what's expected to be a wide-open Democratic field in 2020.

At the party's summer meeting in Chicago on Saturday, DNC members will vote on a proposal that will take away the role of elected officials and other party dignitaries in selecting a nominee at the Democratic convention — leaving it up to delegates selected in primaries and caucuses only — unless the process becomes deadlocked.

A DNC panel overwhelmingly approved the move earlier this summer.

The proposal has broad support among the top leaders of the DNC, including chairman Tom Perez and vice chair Michael Blake.

"Voters want us to be listening to them, and this is a way to show that we're listening, to show that we're understanding the changes that had to be made after 2016," Blake said Friday.

The 2016 Democratic primary was contentious for a number of reasons, but the issue of superdelegates — who are unbound by primary results and are free to support whichever candidate they choose — loomed large over the fight between Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose supporters railed against the party establishment.

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