Oklahoma Republican delegate allocation methodology
In the wake of the Michigan Republican presidential primary, in which Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney won an equal number of congressional districts, each worth two delegates, there was a dispute over whether the two at-large delegates should be divided between Romney and Santorum (since no candidate received a majority of the statewide vote) or both given to the candidate who received the plurality. Had the Michigan Republican Party published its delegate allocation rules in advance of the primary, the dispute and the consequent accusations of bad faith could have been avoided.
In doing my own research on delegate allocation in each state, I have noticed that state party websites rarely have updated information about anything, and they're especially bad about not posting rules, resolutions, and other "party business" documents.
In light of that problem, and in order to avoid a repeat of the Michigan mishegoss, I urged Oklahoma Republican Party leadership to publicize Oklahoma's allocation rules in advance of Tuesday's primary. This evening, Oklahoma GOP vice chairman Pam Pollard sent me the official 2012 National Delegate Award Methodology (PDF). This methodology was approved last year by the Oklahoma Republican State Committee, which is the governing body of the state party, consisting of the County Chairman, Vice Chairman, State Committeeman and State Committeewoman from each county, and all Republican state and federal elected officials.
Some key points (my paraphrase of the official rules):
- The three Republican National Committee members (Chairman Matt Pinnell, National Committeeman James Dunn, National Committeewoman Carolyn McLarty) will not be bound by the primary result.
- It takes a majority (50% + one vote) to win all the delegates in each congressional district (3 each) and statewide to win all 25 at-large delegates.
- If no one has a statewide majority, the 25 delegates will be split among all candidates with at least 15% of the statewide vote in proportion to their share of the vote among the candidates with at least 15%. If rounding results in an unallocated delegate, it will go to the top vote-getter.
- In any congressional district, if three or more candidates get 15% of the vote, the top three candidates get one delegate each. If only two get 15% of the vote or more, the top candidate gets two and the second-place candidate gets one. If only one candidate breaks 15% or if a candidate gets 50% or more, he will get all three delegates
After the jump, the full text of the document:
OKLAHOMA REPUBLICAN PARTY
4031 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73130
Office: 405.528.3501 fax 405.521.9531
www.okgop.com
2012 NATIONAL DELEGATE AWARD METHODOLOGY
March 4, 2012
The Oklahoma Republican Party has adopted the following method to award delegate votes for the 2012 Republican National Convention in accordance with all applicable Republican National Committee (RNC) rules, Oklahoma Republican Party (ORP) Rules (amended 8-27-2011) and all laws of the State of Oklahoma (presently codified at 26 O.S. 2001, § 20-104B&C). All Alternate Delegates will be awarded in the same manner as the Delegates.
The method shall be as follows:
AT-LARGE DELEGATES (28 TOTAL FOR 2012)
- Three (3) At-Large Delegates shall be the members of the Republican National Committee, specifically the State Chairman, National Committeewoman and National Committeeman.
- Twenty-five (25) delegates from the State At-Large shall be awarded to a presidential candidate who receives a majority (more than 50%) of the votes in the Republican Presidential Preference Primary (PPP) election in the state to be held on March 6, 2012.
- If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the votes in the state, then the award shall be as follows:
- To be awarded any of the State At-Large Delegates, a presidential candidate must receive at least 15 percent of the total vote cast in the State in the Republican Presidential Preference Primary.
- If no candidate receives a majority (more than 50%) of the votes in the PPP, then delegates shall be awarded amongst those receiving at least 15% of the vote and will be computed based on the relationship that the number of votes received by each presidential candidate bears to the total number of votes cast in the Republican PPP in the entire State. Any delegates not awarded to candidates in the original apportionment shall be awarded to all candidates receiving at least 15% of the vote in the same relationship as the original award. If after using standard numerical rounding methods any un-awarded delegates remain, that remainder shall be awarded to the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes statewide.
- The Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party shall responsible for the computation and award of all delegate votes in accordance with these rules.
- The then constituted Oklahoma RNC delegation, as a whole, shall have a period of ten (10) days following the State Convention to assign, among themselves the presidential candidate(s) for whom the individual Delegates shall cast their votes at the RNC Convention; and, in the event such agreement is not reached within the required ten (10) days or if any dissent or disagreement arises among the delegation on this issue, the ORP Chairman is authorized to settle and shall be the final authority and decision maker with respect to the Delegate assignments and/or any such disagreement on this issue.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DELEGATES (3 DELEGATES FROM EACH OF 5 CDs = 15 TOTAL)
- All Delegates from each congressional district shall be awarded to a presidential candidate who receives a majority (more than 50%) of the votes in the Republican Presidential Preference Primary election in that district.
- If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the votes in a congressional district, then the award shall be as follows:
- If three or more presidential candidates receive 15 percent or more of such total vote in the district, the top three finishers in the District shall each be awarded one Delegate from that district.
- If only two presidential candidates receive 15 percent or more of such total vote in the district, the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in that congressional district shall receive two (2) Delegates and the presidential candidate who receives the second most votes in that congressional district shall receive one (1) Delegate. If only one presidential candidate receives 15 percent or more of such total vote in the district, such presidential candidate shall be awarded all of the Delegates from that district.
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What happens to the delegates who are bound to vote for a candidate who drops out of the race? Do they vote for that candidate on the first vote at the convention, then can vote for whomever they chose after the first vote? Or are they bound to vote for another candidate by some standard?