The Green Papers
2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions
 
Copyright www.flags.net/UNST.htm Massachusetts Democrat
Presidential Nominating Process
Primary: Tuesday 6 March 20121
Congressional District Caucuses: Saturday 21 April 2012
State Committee and National Convention Delegate Meeting: Saturday 5 May 2012
Democrats
CandidatePopular
Vote
Delegate Votes
Soft
Pledged
Soft
Unpledged
Soft
Total
Hard Total
Obama, Barack Hussein127,909  81.18%110 100.00% 110  80.88%110  80.88%
No Preference16,075  10.20%    
Blanks9,690   6.15%    
Others3,889   2.47%    
Uncommitted    26  19.12%
(available)  26 100.00%26  19.12% 
Total157,563 100.00%110 100.00%26 100.00%136 100.00%136 100.00%

States Chronologically   States Alphabetically     Democratic Convention     Massachusetts Republican    
 
Massachusetts Primaries for Statewide offices and Congress
 
Massachusetts State and Local Government

 
 

The delegate selection processes herein was updated 20 January 2012 per the Massachusetts Delegate Selection Plan as of October 2011.


On 21 January 2011 H01972 was filed. This bill would change the state's partisan and Presidential primaries to be held concurrently on the 1st Tuesday in June-- 5 June 2012. Current law sets the Presidential Primary to the 1st Tuesday in March and the Partisan Primary to 7th Tuesday preceding the November General Election [The General Laws of Massachusetts, Title VIII, Chapter 53: Section 28.]. The bill's sponsors are Representatives James J. Dwyer (Democratic) and Bradley H. Jones (Republican).


   

Tuesday 6 March 2012: 110 of 136 delegates to the Democratic National Convention are pledged to presidential contenders based on the results of the voting in today's Massachusetts Presidential Primary. A mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be allocated National Convention delegates at either the congressional district or statewide level.

  • 72 district delegates are to be allocated proportionally to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the State's 9 congressional districts (updated 20 January 2012).
    • CD 1: 8
    • CD 2: 8
    • CD 3: 8
    • CD 4: 8
    • CD 5: 8
    • CD 6: 8
    • CD 7: 8
    • CD 8: 8
    • CD 9: 8
  • In addition, 38 delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based on the primary vote statewide.
    • 24 at-large National Convention delegates
    • 14 Pledged PLEOs

Here's how we compute the delegate count:

  1. A candidate must receive 15% or more of the total popular vote to qualify for delegates. Discard votes cast for those candidates who do not meet the threshold.
  2. Allocate Congressional District delegates from the qualified vote in each district. Allocate Pledged PLEO and At-Large delegates using the state-wide qualified vote.
  3. In each jurisdiction (CD and statewide):
    1. Total qualified vote = total votes cast for the qualifying candidates in the jurisdiction.
    2. Allocation = (delegates for the jurisdiction) × (candidate's popular vote) ÷ (total qualified vote).
    3. Assign each candidate the WHOLE NUMBER of delegates.
    4. If delegates remain, allocate each of the remaining delegates to those candidates with the LARGEST REMAINDERS.

Tuesday 6 March 2012 PrimarySource: 2012 Massachusetts Presidential Primary Results
ContestBarack ObamaNo PreferenceBlanksAll Others
 Pop
Vote
Qual
Vote
DelPop
Vote
AllocDelPop
Vote
AllocDelPop
Vote
AllocDelPop
Vote
AllocDel
CD115,17912,783812,7838.00081,339  734  323  
CD212,93010,519810,5198.00081,368  744  299  
CD314,85611,986811,9868.00081,668  823  379  
CD415,31212,842812,8428.00081,460  686  324  
CD523,68219,846819,8468.00082,270  1,110  456  
CD617,36513,794813,7948.00082,136  1,001  434  
CD717,94015,179815,1798.00081,188  1,292  281  
CD821,77315,497815,4978.00082,863  2,472  941  
CD918,52615,463815,4638.00081,783  828  452  
PLEO157,563127,90914127,90914.0001416,075  9,690  3,889  
At-Large157,563127,90924127,90924.0002416,075  9,690  3,889  
Delegates  110  110         
 

Saturday 21 April 2012: The Congressional District Caucuses meet to elect National Convention District delegates according to the results of the primary.

 

Saturday 5 May 2012: State Committee and National Convention Delegate Meeting

The Pledged PLEO and At-large National Convention delegates are selected by the State Party Committee.

The remaining 26 National Convention delegates consist of

  • 26 Unpledged PLEO delegates:
    • 11 Democratic National Committee members.
    • 11 Members of Congress (1 Senator and 10 Representatives).
    • 1 Governor.
    • 3 Distinguished Party Leaders (former DNC Chairman Steve Grossman, former DNC Chairman Debra DeLee, and former DNC Chairman Paul G. Kirk, Jr.).

These 26 delegates and will go to the Democratic National Convention officially "Unpledged".


Links Links to other web sites

Constitution   Links to State Constitutions
  http://www.state.ma.us/legis/const.htm
Election Authority
  Massachusetts Elections Division
  Office of Campaign and Political Finance
Legislature   Links to State Legislatures
  The General Court of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Democratic
  Massachusetts Democratic Party
Media & others
  Boston Globe
  Boston Herald
  Cape Cod Times
  Daily Hampshire Gazette - Northampton
  DC's Political Report - Massachusetts
  Dorchester Reporter
  Everett Independent
  Gloucester Daily Times
  Lowell Sun
  MassINC - The Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth
  MassLive.com - The Republican - Springfield
  Mayor James J. "Jim" Fiorentini, City of Haverhill
  New England Cable News - Newton
  North Adams Transcript
  Politics1.com - Massachusetts
  Red Mass Group
  Sentinel & Enterprise - Fitchburg
  South Boston Online
  State House News Service
  The Berkshire Eagle - Pittsfield
  The Boston Phoenix
  The Daily News - Newburyport
  The Daily News Tribune - Needham
  The Eagle-Tribune - Lawrence
  The Haverhill Gazette
  The Herald News - Fall River
  The Landmark - Holden
  The Patriot Ledger - Quincy
  The Salem News
  The Standard Times - South Coast Today - New Bedford
  The Taunton Gazette
  WBZ TV - CBS - Boston
  WCVB TV - ABC - Needham
  WHDH TV - NBC - Boston
  Worcester Telegram & Gazette

1 Democratic Party's "First Determining Step" of the delegate selection process.

 


  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  
 
  States Alphabetically  
  Events Chronologically  
  Major Events Chronologically  
  Democratic "First Determining Step" Chronologically  
 
  Chronological Cumulative Allocation of Delegates  
  Weekly Delegate Distribution and Availability  
  Democratic Pledged and Unpledged Summary   --   Republican Pledged and Unpledged Summary  
  Democratic Hard and Soft Summary   --   Republican Hard and Soft Summary  
 
Delegate Allocation
  Democratic Quick Reference   --   Republican Quick Reference  
  Democratic Detailed Delegate Allocation   --   Republican Detailed Delegate Allocation  
 
  Democratic Delegate Selection and Voter Eligibility   --   Republican Delegate Selection and Voter Eligibility  
 
  Primaries at a Glance  
 
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  
 
  Straw Polls  


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