Tuesday 24 April 2012: 16 of the 19 Rhode Island delegates to the Republican National Convention are proportionally bound to the presidential contenders in today's Rhode Island primary. A mandatory 15 percent threshold of the statewide vote is required in order for a presidential contender to receive delegates. [Rules Pertaining to the Delegate Selection Process to the 2012 Republican National Convention. Republican State Central Committee. Article III Rule 3.02]

National Convention Delegates are distributed equally between the state's 2 Congressional Districts. Should there be an odd number delegates, the extra delegate is assigned to the Congressional District with the largest number of registered voters at the previous general election.

• 16 delegates are to be bound proportionally to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the State's 2 congressional districts.
• CD 1: 8 (342,015 registered voters as of 10 August 2010)
• CD 2: 8 (357,611 registered voters as of 10 August 2010)
• Round the results to the nearest whole number of delegates. "The Nominating Committee of the Rhode Island Republican State Central Committee will resolve any questions as to the number of Delegates qualified for any specific Presidential candidate." [Article III Rule 3.03]

The name of each delegate along with their Presidential preference is listed on the primary ballot. The highest vote-getters become National Convention Delegates and alternates (up to the number won by the Presidential candidate) [Article III Rule 3.04].

In addition, 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Rhode Island's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unpledged delegates by virtue of their position.

All Delegates elected under a Presidential candidate shall be required to vote for such Presidential candidate at the National Convention ... until ... released. Pledged Delegates may only be released by act of the Presidential candidate ... or by affirmation vote of no less than 75% of all the elected Delegates from Rhode Island committed to such candidate. [Article IV Rules 4.01, 4.02A, 4.02]

Notes

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Davenport "Linc" Chafee (Independent) signed Senate Bill 399 on 1 July 2011 and House Bill 5653 on 12 July 2011. These bills moved the Presidential primary from the 1st Tuesday in March (6 March 2012) to the 4th Tuesday in April (24 April 2012).