Republican Temporary Delegate Selection Committee's Recommendations
for the 2012 Presidential Nominating Process

Approved by the Republican National Committee Friday 6 August 2010


On Friday 6 August 2010, the RNC approved the recommendations of the Temporary Delegate Selection Committee to reform the 2012 Presidential Nomination calendar. Reference 1 July 2010: Temporary Delegate Selection Committee's Current Draft Rule No. 15(b) Amendment Language and Brief Summary of Recommendation. The vote was 103 to 41 or 71.5%. A two-thirds vote was needed for approval.

 

The "carve-out" states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada (designated with a ‡) may begin their process on 1 February 2012. All other states must wait until Tuesday 6 March 2012.

The Republican jurisdictions are listed below in chronological order according to their first major delegate selection event (based on either current information or the 2008 dates adjusted to the corresponding dates in 2012). Many of these events are primaries whose dates are established by state law. Hence, it would take an act of the state legislature to move the date. Furthermore the February dates were set to comply with 2008 party rules. Where could this all lead?

  • State legislatures might change their election laws and state parties might change their caucus dates to comply with the new rules.
  • States could ask for a waiver to be "grandfathered" to the date set by law prior to the adoption of this rule.
  • If any state retains their February date, the "carve-out" states are likely to move their dates into January. For example, New Hampshire law [RSA 653:9] states that their Presidential primary is held "... on a date selected by the secretary of state which is 7 days or more immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election..."
  • States currently starting on the first Tuesday in February (the earliest date from 2008) might simply move to the first Tuesday in March (the earliest date for 2012). If this happens, those states would join the states already starting on the first Tuesday in March resulting in a 2012 "National Primary" that encompasses more states than the 5 February 2008 "National Primary".

 

"Some form of proportional delegate allocation" is required for events in March 2012.

The document also states "Any presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other meeting held for the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention which occurs prior to the first day of April ... shall provide for the allocation of the delegates selected on a proportional basis." The document adds "The new Subsection (2) requires that any state holding its presidential nominating process in March include some form of proportional delegate allocation, as determined by the state." This provision does not apply to the four "carve-out" states (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada).

Frankly, we are not sure exactly how to interpret this rule. Since no mathematical formula is provided, we will have to see how this plays out and how much leeway state parties will be granted.

By "proportional", the RNC means

  • Delegates who are bound to Presidential candidates based on the statewide vote may not be bound "winner-take-all" before 1 April 2012. However, a state may set an up to 20% qualification threshold (that is, a candidate must receive 20% or more of the statewide vote in order to qualify for delegates) and a state may set a 50% or more winner-take-all threshold (that is, if a candidate receives 50% of the vote, that candidate receives all of the statewide delegates).
  • The proportional allocation rule does NOT apply to Congressional District delegates bound according to the vote in a Congressional District, National Convention delegates directly elected in a primary, or National Convention delegates who are NOT bound to vote for a particular candidate.

Other winner-take-all notes:

  • About 11 states use a pure winner-take-all (WTA) election.
  • Most states use a combination of processes. For example, in 2008 the Washington Republicans used a combination of a primary with proportional and WTA components along with a caucus.
  • Several states use a "winner-take-most" formula. For example, in 2008 the Oklahoma Republicans used a combination of WTA primary statewide and WTA primary by congressional district.

 
Republican
Chronologically
(sort)
Jurisdiction
(estimated delegates)
(sorted by)
Estimated
Start Date
Start Date
Issue
Delegate
Selection
Delegate
Selection
Issue
Iowa (28)Tuesday 3 January 2012before 1 FebruaryCC 
New Hampshire (12)Tuesday 10 January 2012before 1 FebruaryPP 
South Carolina (25)Saturday 21 January 2012before 1 FebruaryWTAP:S+WTAP:D 
Maine (24)Sunday 29 January 2012before 6 MarchCC 
Florida (50)Tuesday 31 January 2012before 6 MarchWTAPWTA before 1 April
Nevada (28)Saturday 4 February 2012 CC 
Colorado (36)Tuesday 7 February 2012before 6 MarchCC 
Minnesota (40)Tuesday 7 February 2012before 6 MarchCC 
Arizona (29)Tuesday 28 February 2012before 6 MarchWTAPWTA before 1 April
Michigan (30)Tuesday 28 February 2012before 6 MarchWTAP/T2P+PP 
Washington (43)Saturday 3 March 2012before 6 MarchCC 
Alaska (27)Tuesday 6 March 2012 CC 
Georgia (76)Tuesday 6 March 2012 WTAP/T2P+PP 
Idaho (32)Tuesday 6 March 2012 CC 
Massachusetts (41)Tuesday 6 March 2012 PP 
North Dakota (28)Tuesday 6 March 2012 CC 
Ohio (66)Tuesday 6 March 2012 WTAP:D+WTA/PP:S 
Oklahoma (43)Tuesday 6 March 2012 WTAP:S+WTAP:D 
Tennessee (58)Tuesday 6 March 2012 WTAP:D+PP+CC 
Vermont (17)Tuesday 6 March 2012 WTAP:D+WTA/PP:S 
Virginia (49)Tuesday 6 March 2012 WTAP:D+WTA/PP:S 
Wyoming (29)Tuesday 6 March 2012 CC 
Guam (9)Saturday 10 March 2012 CC 
Northern Marianas (9)Saturday 10 March 2012 CC 
Virgin Islands (9)Saturday 10 March 2012 CC 
Alabama (50)Tuesday 13 March 2012 WTAP/T2P+PP 
American Samoa (9)Tuesday 13 March 2012 CC 
Hawaii (20)Tuesday 13 March 2012 CC 
Mississippi (40)Tuesday 13 March 2012 WTAP:D+PP+CC 
Missouri (52)Thursday 15 March 2012 CC 
Puerto Rico (23)Sunday 18 March 2012 WTAP/PP 
Illinois (69)Tuesday 20 March 2012 LP 
Louisiana (46)Saturday 24 March 2012 PP+CC 
District of Columbia (19)Tuesday 3 April 2012 WTAP 
Maryland (37)Tuesday 3 April 2012 WTAP:S+WTAP:D 
Wisconsin (42)Tuesday 3 April 2012 WTAP:S+WTAP:D 
Connecticut (28)Tuesday 24 April 2012 WTAP:D+WTA/PP:S 
Delaware (17)Tuesday 24 April 2012 WTAP 
New York (95)Tuesday 24 April 2012 WTAP:D+WTA/PP:S 
Pennsylvania (72)Tuesday 24 April 2012 LP 
Rhode Island (19)Tuesday 24 April 2012 PP 
Kansas (40)Saturday 28 April 2012 CC 
Indiana (46)Tuesday 8 May 2012 WTA+PP+CC 
North Carolina (55)Tuesday 8 May 2012 PP 
West Virginia (31)Tuesday 8 May 2012 DSP 
Oregon (28)Tuesday 15 May 2012 PP 
Arkansas (36)Tuesday 22 May 2012 PP 
Kentucky (45)Tuesday 22 May 2012 PP 
Texas (155)Tuesday 29 May 2012 PP 
California (172)Tuesday 5 June 2012 WTAP:S+WTAP:D 
New Jersey (50)Tuesday 5 June 2012 WTAP 
South Dakota (28)Tuesday 5 June 2012 PP 
New Mexico (23)Saturday 9 June 2012 PP 
Montana (26)Thursday 14 June 2012 CC 
Utah (40)Tuesday 26 June 2012 WTAP 
Nebraska (35)Saturday 14 July 2012 AP 
 
Republican Delegate Selection
KeyDelegate SelectionJurisdictionsDelegates
in these
Jurisdictions
Percentage
of
Delegates
CCCaucus/Convention1848921.39%
PPProportional Primary1044219.34%
WTAP:S+WTAP:DWinner-Take-All (by district and statewide)531913.95%
WTAP:D+WTA/PP:SDistrict: Winner-Take-All Primary, Statewide: if winner receives a majority Winner-Take-All Primary otherwise Proportional Primary525511.15%
WTAPWinner-Take-All62058.97%
WTAP/T2P+PPDistrict: Winner-Take-All or top two; Statewide: Proportional31566.82%
LPLoophole Primary21416.17%
WTAP:D+PP+CCIn each district and statewide - if winner receives a majority Winner-Take-All Primary otherwise Proportional Primary2984.29%
WTA+PP+CCCombined Selection [Winner-Take-All Primary for District Delegates with Caucus/Convention]1462.01%
PP+CCCombined Selection [Proportional Primary with Caucus/Convention]1462.01%
APAdvisory Primary1351.53%
DSPDelegate Selection Primary1311.36%
WTAP/PPIf winner receives a majority Winner-Take-All Primary otherwise Proportional Primary1231.01%
 
 


  Election 2012 - Presidential Primary, Caucus, and Convention Home  
 
  Presidential Candidates  
 
Rule Making and Process
  30 December 2009 - Democratic Change Commission's Recommendations for the 2012 Presidential Nominating Process  
  20 August 2010 - Democratic National Committee approves 2012 Call To Convention and Delegate Selection Rules  
  6 August 2010 - Republican Temporary Delegate Selection Committee's Recommendations for the 2012 Presidential Nominating Process  
 
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  Democratic Quick Reference   --   Republican Quick Reference  
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Documentation
  Historical Analysis of the Presidential Nominating Process  
  Historical Analysis of the apportionment of delegate votes at the National Conventions of the two major parties  
  Primary/Caucus/Convention Glossary  
  Statutory Election Information of the Several states / Presidential Primary  
  Dates of PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES re: selection and/or allocation/distribution of Delegates to Major Party National Conventions  
 
  Major Third Party (Constitution, Green, Libertarian) Presidential Nomination Process  
 
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