Sunday 29 January - Saturday 3 March 2012: Maine Republican Party Municipal Caucuses. Each Precinct Caucus chooses the precinct's delegates to the District Caucuses and State Convention.

• There is no formal system applied in the Municipal Caucuses to relate the presidential preference of the participants to the choice of the municipality's delegates to the District Caucuses and State Convention. The participants at each Municipal Caucus alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choices and, if so, how it is to be applied.
• The proceedings of the municipal caucuses shall include ... Election of delegates ... to the state convention ... [The General Rules of the Maine Republican Party - Rule 8 d.]

The party will conduct a non-binding Presidential straw poll at the caucuses. The results of the straw poll will be made public on Saturday 11 February 2012. Note that some caucuses are held after 11 February-- see below. Since no National Convention delegates are bound to Presidential contenders, the straw poll does not violate the RNC's Tuesday 6 March 2012 timing rule.

The Maine Republican Party is encouraging all municipal committees to hold their caucuses between 4 to 11 February. Reference: Maine G.O.P. 2012 Caucus Information. Caucuses outside this date range:

• Aroostook-- North Caucus: 3 February
• Hancock County-- Gouldsboro, Hancock, Lamoine, Waltham, Sorrento, Sullivan, Winter Harbor, Fletcher's Landing, Aurora/Amherst, Eastbrook, Franklin, Mariaville, Osborn: 18 February
• Hancock County-- Castine: 3 March
• Kennebec-- Rome: 16 February
• Oxford-- South Paris, Buckfield, Greenwood, Hartford, Hebron, Norway, Otisfield, Oxford, Paris, Waterford, West Paris: 3 February
• Penobscot-- Millinocket: 30 January
• Waldo-- Frankfort: 1 February
• Waldo-- Palermo, Unity: 29 January

Saturday 11 February 2012: The results of the Municipal Caucuses / non-binding straw poll are made public.

Here's how we estimate the delegate count as of 17 February 2012: (Note that zero national convention delegates are allocated during the Municipal Caucuses - national convention delegates are first elected in May.)

We will allocate the state's unbound 21 non-party leader delegates proportionally according to the popular vote for those candidates receiving 5% or more of the vote. This is a very rough estimate and will change by the time the state convention meets.

• 6 district delegates are elected by caucus participants from each of Maine's 2 Congressional districts. These delegates will attend the Republican National Convention officially unbound to any Presidential candidate.
• CD 1: 3
• CD 2: 3
• 15 delegates are elected by the Maine State Convention as a whole. These delegates will attend the Republican National Convention officially unbound.
• 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Maine's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unbound delegates by virtue of their position.

The proceedings of the state convention shall include ...

• Elect delegates ... to the Republican National Convention. [General Rules of the Maine Republican Party - Rule 2. h. 1)]
• ... three delegates ... shall be elected in ... each congressional district ... the remainder ... shall be elected at-large by the convention as a whole. [Rule 3. a.]
• ... In the event of any ambiguities ... these rules shall be interpreted ... by the Executive Committee whose interpretation ... shall be ... binding ... [Rule 3. d.]
• ... The proceedings of the district caucuses shall include ... Election of the district ... delegates ... to the Republican National Convention [Rule 4. c.]
• ... The last business of the State Convention shall be the election of Delegates ... to the National convention. [Rule 24. f.]