From February to June of this election year, residents of the 50 states and six territories vote in primaries and caucuses to offer their opinion on who should be the presidential nominee. Most Americans know that their vote is not the final say, and that delegates are awarded to candidates based off of their votes. Beyond that, not much else is common knowledge because the process gets very detailed, very fast. As one of those curious Americans myself, here are some questions answered about how the Republican delegates and primaries work. Know that the Democratic process is similar, yet there are some differences which would have convoluted the article, so I write about the Republicans because I have personal experience and because of this particularly controversial election cycle. Included within are links to websites that were helpful to my research, which may interest you.
1. What’s a convention?
In addition to a national convention, which happens every four years, each state, county and precinct (a sub-division of a county) has a convention. In Texas there is a state convention every two years. Two main things happen at a convention: delegates are chosen and resolutions to the state and national party platforms are voted on. Any resolution passed is considered at the next convention level with the hope of ending up in the final platform. This year, the Texas GOP (Grand Old Party) Convention is in Dallas from May 12-14. The Republican National Convention is in Cleveland, Ohio from July 18-21.
2. Who are the delegates?
Delegates are representatives for their precinct, county, or state. There are two requirements to be eligible for a delegate spot: you must live in the area you represent, and you must have voted in the Republican primary. The process of becoming a delegate begins at the precinct level. At each convention a different number of delegates are chosen to represent at the next convention .
For example, a few weeks ago my dad went to the Rockwall County Convention, where he was one of six people in attendance for precinct 2C. The participants were divided up into 17 groups -- a group for every precinct -- in order to determine a list of potential delegates. As predetermined at the precinct convention, Precinct 2C would be allotted four out of the total 51 delegates for Rockwall County, and interestingly, a person did not have to be present in order to have their name offered as a delegate. Once each precinct submitted their list of names, the nominating committee deliberated for about 30 minutes before releasing the names of the delegates and the alternates for final vote. From there, they followed Robert’s Rules of Order to see if people approved or opposed the list (no one opposed). The delegates chosen to represent the county at the state convention were then official.
3. How do the delegates get divided between candidates?
Beginning with Iowa, citizens go vote in the primary elections. This is to give an indication to their delegates who they think should be the party’s nominee. Each state has it’s own rules on how each county’s votes get distributed to the candidates … some reward a proportional amount, some have a winner-take-all system, and others have a combination of these two. Texas for example, has 155 Republican delegates; three delegates for each of the 36 congressional districts, plus 47 delegates for the overall state winner. However, a candidate does not simply win all three delegates for a district unless he has a majority (51 percent) of the votes. Same goes for the 47 delegates. State by state, candidates rack up delegates. Nationally, there are 2,472 possible Republican delegates to win. In order for a candidate to get the nomination uncontested, he must win a majority (50 percent plus one) of the delegates, i.e. 1,237.
Real Clear Politics has a great chart that shows a schedule of the primaries, results of this years delegate count, and indicates how each state’s delegates are allocated between candidates.
4. What happens if a candidate gets a majority of the delegates?
At the Republican National Convention, the delegates officially vote, and if/when a candidate receives a majority, then he officially becomes the nominee for the Republican Party. For example, in 2012, Mitt Romney won 1473 delegates, and only 1144 were needed to win, so going into the convention it was obvious that Romney would get the nomination.
5. What happens if no candidate receives a majority?
Many are anticipating a “contested convention” this election season. As Eliana Johnson said in her article regarding the fate of Rubio’s delegates, there are different categories of delegates. On the first vote of the convention, most delegates are still required to vote for whoever they were originally bound to, no matter if that person has suspended their campaign or not. So, even though people such as Rubio, Fiorina, Carson, etc. are no longer in the running, they still have delegates attached to them. After the first vote (when no one received the majority because no one has it), a large portion of the delegates are released from their obligation to a particular candidate and become “up for grabs!” This is where negotiations begin and delegates are able to change their vote. If no candidate receives a majority after the second vote, another group of delegates are released to vote as they please. At this point, only a small portion of delegates remain unable to change their vote, because some delegates are only unbound when officially released by their candidate (which could never happen). The delegates continue voting until a candidate reaches a majority. When one candidate receives the majority, he becomes the nominee.
More questions? Check out this flow chart about the how a contested convention would play out.
The good news/bad news about this process is that almost any person can be a part of it — doesn’t matter your age, race, religion, job, income level. At my county's convention, there were about 100 people … a county with a population somewhere in the range of 85,000. With stats like these, anyone who truly cares and is able to prove that he/she is informed has the potential to have an impact on the fate of our nation. That’s America for you.
