Republican Liberty Coalition
Questions About County and State Delegates
There are questions about being a delegate at County and then at State. Here’s some answers:
1. There is no presidential “vote” at County Convention. On January 19th, citizens cast their vote for the candidate they preferred. They elected Delegates and Alternates from each precinct to represent them; however, those Delegates and Alternates are NOT bound by the vote of their precinct.
a. Example: There are 40 people and 20 voted for Mitt Romney; 10 voted for Ron Paul; 5 for John McCain; 3 for Rudy Guiliaini; and 2 for Duncan Hunter – you have 10 Delegates and 10 Alternates. Only 5 of the people wanted to attend County Convention who voted for Mitt Romney, all of Ron Paul’s wanted to attend, 2 John McCain, 1 Guiliain, and both of Duncan Hunter’s. The vote changes to: 10 Ron Paul (5 probably Alternates); 5 Mitt Romney; 2 John McCain; 2 Duncan Hunter; 1 Guiliaini.
b. Further, after Caucus, Guiliani and Hunter dropped out immediately, Mitt Romney two days later. Maybe 2 of Mitt Romney’s people still want to attend out of the 5, and the 2 John McCain people stay in, and the rest say forget it, not wasting my time, don’t want to spend the money, whatever. Now you have: 10 Ron Paul (only 3 are now Alternates instead of 5), 2 Mitt Romney, and 2 John McCain.
2. Theoretically, 71% of the vote from your precinct is now representing Ron Paul at County Convention, but it doesn’t matter who you support because there will NOT be a presidential vote at County Convention, they do not need to know who you support.
3. Over 50% of the Delegates chosen at Caucus did not sign up for the County Convention.
4. County Convention is for local politics overall: Bylaws, Platforms, Resolutions, election to the E-Board, and electing Delegates to State Convention.
a. There will be an up or down vote on Bylaws, Platforms and Resolutions - no discussion on the floor. If you want changes to any of these items, you will need to submit a change form (provided in your delegate packet) and drop it in the appropriate bucket and when they break for committees, you will have an opportunity to discuss your change at the closed committee meetings. The sole purpose of not discussing it on the floor in open debate is that there will be many from the press attending. Think Democrat’s convention and you should understand why this is necessary.
b. E-Board will be by self-nomination. There will probably be a self-nominating form in your Delegate Package. It is broken down by County Commission District and you will only be allowed to vote for 2 people. We have a list of Delegates who have shown an interest in running for Executive Board.
c. State Delegates will also be chosen by self-nomination. It is extremely important that you complete this form neatly and accurately . 50% of the Delegates dropped out after Caucus, and if only 25% opt out of going to State, and all goes well, everyone goes to State Convention.
5. State Convention is where everything gets tricky and we form alliances within our group, and with other Counties. The State Convention will have a few thousand attendees (hopefully half from Clark County). At the State Convention, they will narrow down the Delegates from est. 3,000 to only 34 Delegates for National Convention. Nevada has 37 Delegates; however, the State Chair, RNC Committeeman and RNC Committeewoman are automatic Delegates. There are 34 seats at stake. We will have to plan carefully and work together not only amongst ourselves, but with the other counties. If there are 3,000 Delegates attending, and there are only 34 seats, those who want to go to National will need at least 89 votes each to even have a chance of winning, if there are 4,000 Delegates attending - at least 118 votes per person will be needed. You can only cast one vote for one person.
