The Green Papers
Democratic Delegate Allocation - 2004

Primary Calendar

Delegate selection primaries, caucuses, and conventions will begin on Tuesday 3 February and end on 8 June 2004. Two states, Iowa and New Hampshire, are allowed to select delegates before 3 February. (Approved by the DNC 19 January 2002).

Disclaimers:

The unpledged PLEO Democratic Delegates consist of Democratic Governors, House members, Senators; DNC members; distinguished party leaders (former Democratic Presidents, Governors, Representatives, and Senators); and Add-on delegates (as voted by the DNC). Elections, appointments, and deaths from now until the 2004 convention will change these numbers.

Computation of (intermediate) Base Votes
for Jurisdictions with Electoral Votes

The rules of the Democratic National Convention call for the following formula to be used in determining the allocation of delegate votes to each jurisdiction sending a delegation to the Convention.

Each jurisdiction with electoral votes is assigned a number of Base (delegate) votes based on an "Allocation Factor" multiplied by 3,000 arrived at through a calculation involving the following factors:

1. State's Democratic Vote (SDV): The jurisdiction's popular vote for the Democratic candidate for President in the last three Presidential Elections (in this case: 1992, 1996, and 2000).
2. Total Democratic Vote (TDV): The total popular vote for the Democratic candidate for President in the last three Presidential Elections (1992, 1996, and 2000).
3. The state's Electoral Vote (SEV).
4. The total Electoral Vote of all jurisdictions (538).

The formula for determining a jurisdiction's Allocation Factor is:

Allocation Factor = ½ × ( ( SDV ÷ TDV ) + ( SEV ÷ 538 ) )

The number of Base votes assigned to a state is Allocation Factor × 3000 (Fractions 0.5 and above are rounded to the next highest integer).

To summarize, half of a jurisdiction's base vote is determined by the number of Electors assigned to that state and half are computed by the number of people who voted for the Democratic candidate in the last three elections.

Assignments of (intermediate) Base Votes
for Jurisdictions without Electoral Votes

Jurisdictions without Electoral votes receive the following:

• Puerto Rico is assigned 44 Base Votes.
• American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands are each assigned 3 Base Votes.
• Democrats Abroad are assigned 6 Base Votes.
• Unassigned, a category consisting of unpledged delegates, is assigned 0 Base Votes.

Computation of Delegate Votes

The 50 States and Puerto Rico are allocated District, At-Large, and PLEO delegates as follows:

• District Delegate Votes = Base Votes × 0.75. (Fractions 0.5 and above are rounded to the next highest integer.)
• At-Large Delegate Votes = Base Votes × 0.25. (Fractions 0.5 and above are rounded to the next highest integer.)
• PLEO Delegate Votes = (District Delegate Votes + At-Large Delegate Votes) × 0.15. (Fractions 0.5 and above are rounded to the next highest integer.)

American Samoa, Democrats Abroad, Guam, and the Virgin Islands are allocated At-Large, and PLEO delegates as follows:

• At-Large Delegate Votes = Base Votes × 1.00. (Fractions 0.5 and above are rounded to the next highest integer.)
• PLEO Delegate Votes = (District Delegate Votes + At-Large Delegate Votes) × 0.15. (Fractions 0.5 and above are rounded to the next highest integer.)

Unpledged Delegates

About 1 in 5 of the delegate votes at the convention will come from "unpledged" or "Super Delegates". These delegates serve because of the office they hold or office(s) they have held. The presidential preference of these delegates is not a factor in their selection as delegates. Unpledged delegates are:

• The aproximately 450 elected members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
• Democratic Governors of the 50 states along with the following officeholders (assuming, of course, that they are Democrats):
  • the territorial Governor of American Samoa
  • the Mayor of the District of Columbia
  • the territorial Governor of Guam
  • the Governor of Puerto Rico
  • the territorial Governor of the Virgin Islands
• Democratic Senators and House members from the 50 states plus the following Non-voting members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives (again, assuming that they are Democrats):
  • the House Delegate from American Samoa
  • the House Delegate from the District of Columbia
  • the two "Shadow" Senators from the District of Columbia
  • the House Delegate from Guam
  • the Resident Commissioner (House Delegate) from Puerto Rico
  • the House Delegate from the Virgin Islands
• Distinguished Party Leaders (current and former U.S. Presidents and Vice-Presidents who were elected as Democrats, former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House [including former Democratic Speakers of the House and former Democratic Leaders in both houses of Congress], and former chairmen of the Democratic National Committee.
• Unpledged "add-on"s (chosen based on the vote of the members of the Democratic National Committee).

The number of "Unpledged" delegates to the Democratic National Convention is subject to change due to deaths, resignations from office (for those PLEOs who hold an elective office) or accession- by a Democrat- to an elective office through an intervening election or special election. In addition, any Unpledged PLEO who shall subsequently become a Pledged PLEO may further alter the number of Unpledged National Convention delegates within a given delegation.

Awarding Delegates to candidates

During the primaries, caucuses, and conventions delegates are "won" by candidates as follows:

• District Delegates are proportionally allocated according to the vote in each Congressional (or other) District.
• At-Large Delegates are proportionally allocated according to the statewide vote. (Fine point: If a presidential candidate is no longer a candidate at the time of selection of the at-large delegates, that candidate receives NO at-large delegates [Rule 9.C.]. In most jurisdictions, the delegates are selected [according to the results of the primary or caucus] some time after the primary.)
• Pledged PLEO Delegates are proportionally allocated according to the statewide vote.
• Unpledged PLEO Delegates vote their conscience.

Territorial Delegates

There will actually be more delegates on the floor of the Democratic National Convention than there are delegate votes [which is why I use the term "delegate votes" in the first place]. Some states will have more delegate seats than actual delegate votes at that Convention [as a result of which, some delegates from some states will have to cast fractional votes during roll calls on the Convention floor]. There will be 4338 delegate votes at the 43rd Democratic National Convention, there will be 4368 actual delegates on the floor of the Convention (30 more delegates than votes)... here's why:

• AMERICAN SAMOA, with 6 delegate votes, will have 12 delegates.
  • 6 at-large pledged delegates each cast ½ (or .5) vote for a total of 3 votes;
  • 2 unpledged delegates (Governor and Democratic Member of Congress) each cast 1 vote for a total of 2 votes;
  • 4 unpledged Democratic National Committee members each cast ¼ (or .25) vote for a total of 1 vote.
• GUAM, with 4 delegate votes, will have 10 delegates
  • 6 at-large pledged delegates each cast ½ (or .5) vote for a total of 3 votes;
  • 0 unpledged delegates (Governor and Democratic Member of Congress) each cast 1 vote for a total of 0 votes;
  • 4 unpledged Democratic National Committee members each cast ¼ (or .25) vote for a total of 1 vote.
• VIRGIN ISLANDS, with 6 delegate votes, will have 12 delegates
  • 6 at-large pledged delegates each cast ½ (or .5) vote for a total of 3 votes;
  • 2 unpledged delegates (Governor and Democratic Member of Congress) each cast 1 vote for a total of 2 votes;
  • 4 unpledged Democratic National Committee members each cast ¼ (or .25) vote for a total of 1 vote.
• DEMOCRATS ABROAD, with 9 delegate votes, will have 22 delegates. The makeup of the DEMOCRATS ABROAD delegation will be:
  • 9 regional delegates [a .5 vote each]= 4.5 regional delegate votes;
  • 3 at-large delegates [a .5 vote each]= 1.5 at-large delegate votes;
  • 2 Pledged PLEO delegates [a .5 vote each]= 1 Pledged PLEO delegate vote;
  • 8 Unpledged PLEO delegates [a .25 vote each]= 2 Unpledged PLEO delegate votes.

DNC Members

"In a relative handful of cases, a Member of Congress or a Governor is also a member of the Democratic National Committee (in some of these cases, such as that of the Democrats' Congressional Leaders- House Minority Leader Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Daschle- Members of Congress are DNC members ex-officio; in other cases, however, they represent various associated committees or organizations affiliated with the DNC: for example, U.S. Senators [other than Daschle] sit on the DNC as representatives of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee- likewise, Congressmen [other than Pelosi] and Governors sit on the DNC as representatives of, respectively, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Governors' Association); the Democratic Party lists these Unpledged PLEOs who are DNC members as well as holders of elective office solely as DNC members (in other words, as far as the Party is concerned, these people are "Party Leaders" more than "Elected Officials"). However, it is the considered opinion of "The Green Papers" that the average user of this web site is going to think of these few Unpledged PLEOs who are in the unique position of being both PLs AND EOs more in terms of their elected office than their DNC membership: as a result, "The Green Papers" has "converted" DNC members who happen also to be Governors, Senators and Representatives to their political office from their DNC membership. Therefore, the breakdown in each state or other jurisdiction of Unpledged PLEOs as posted on "The Green Papers" may differ somewhat from that put out by the Democratic Party itself: where this is the case, it is so indicated on the appropriate DEMOCRAT page for the affected state or other jurisdiction."

Replacing Unpledged Delegates

Unpledged delegates shall not be entitled to a replacement, nor shall the state be entitled to a replacement, except under the following conditions:

1. Members of Congress and Democratic Governors shall not be entitled to name a replacement. In the event of changes or vacancies in the state's Congressional Delegation, following the official confirmation and prior to the commencement of the national convention, the DNC Secretary shall recognize only such changes as have been officially recognized by he Democratic Caucus of the U. S. House of Representatives or the Democratic Conference of the U. S. Senate. In the event of a change or vacancy in he state's office of Governor, the DNC shall recognize only such changes as have been officially recognized by he Democratic Governors' Association.
2. Members of the DNC and unpledged Add-on delegates shall not be entitled to a replacement, nor shall the state be entitled to a replacement, except in the case of death of such delegates. In the case where the state's DNC membership changes following the DNC Secretary's official confirmation, but prior to the commencement of the Democratic National Convention, acknowledgment by the Secretary of the new DNC member certification shall constitute verification of the corresponding change of unpledged delegates.
3. Distinguished Party Leader delegates allocated to the state pursuant to Rule 8.A.(5) shall not be entitled to name a replacement, nor shall the state be entitled to name a replacement.
4. In no case may an alternate cast a vote for an unpledged delegate.