Arkansas Republican Presidential Primary Fee is $15,000

[Bradley in DC]

http://www.ballot-access.org/2007/11/14/arkansas-republican-presidential-primary-fee-is-15000/

Arkansas Republican Presidential Primary Fee is $15,000
November 14th, 2007
Until 2007, there had never been a party-imposed fee for running in a presidential primary in any state, higher than $5,000. However, the South Carolina Republican Party broke that pattern by setting its filing fee at $25,000 for candidates who filed before May 2007, and $35,000 for candidates who filed later.

Now the Arkansas Republican Party has copied this idea, to a certain extent, and is charging $15,000. The Arkansas Republican Party does not pay for the presidential primary; the fee is just a way for the party to make money.

So far, the only Republicans who have paid the Arkansas $15,000 fee are John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson. However, filing doesn’t end until Monday, November 19.

The Democratic National Committee has set a ceiling of $2,500 that any state Democratic Party may charge presidential candidates. Of course, in most states, filing fees don’t go to the parties anyway. In most states they go to election administrators.

[bbachtung]

It is worth noting that only Thompson, Paul, and McCain have ALSO filed with the Secretary of State.

[A.Arkansan]

2008 Arkansas Delegate Selection Process

PROCEDURE FOR FILING FOR DELEGATE OR ALTERNATE: Candidates seeking to
represent the voters of Arkansas at the 2008 Republican National Convention must
qualify by filing at the State GOP Headquarters during regular business hours from
January 21, 2008 through February 4, 2008. If mailed, the filing must be received at the
State GOP Headquarters by the close of business on February 4, 2008. Further,
candidates must commit themselves to the support of a specific presidential candidate at
the time of filing for a position as delegate/alternate. Properly filed candidates shall be
eligible for election as delegates or alternates at the Special District Convention or the
State Committee Meeting called for that purpose. The names of properly filed
delegate/alternate candidates shall be listed on a ballot to be voted at the Special District
Convention to be held on May 17, 2008. The names of properly filed candidates that
remain following the allocation of delegates and alternates at the Special District
Convention shall be listed on a ballot to be voted at the State Committee Meeting to be
held on June 14, 2008. The qualifying filing fee is $125.00 per person payable to the
Republican Party of Arkansas. It is suggested that each presidential candidate submit a
list of recommended candidates for the delegates and alternates allocated to Arkansas.
Delegate/Alternate candidates recommended by each presidential candidate or his/her
designee will be identified on ballots to be voted at the Special District Convention and at
the State Committee Meeting if the listing of recommended Delegate/Alternate
candidates is received at the State GOP Headquarters by the close of business on May 2,
2008.
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COUNTY CONVENTION: During the month of April, 2008 all
counties shall hold a Special Meeting of the County Convention for the purpose of
electing delegates to a Special District Convention to be held on May 17, 2008. The
purpose of the Special District Convention is to elect three (3) Delegates and three (3)
Alternates to the 2008 Republican National Convention from each Congressional
District.
The Special Meeting of the County Convention shall be comprised of qualified voters in
that county who have filed during the filing period (March 18, 2008 - April 1, 2008) to be
a member of the County Committee and a delegate to the County Convention.
The membership of the Special District Convention shall consist of delegates elected
from each county within the Congressional District based on the following formula:
1. Three (3) delegates from each county.
2. One (1) delegate for each two thousand (2000) votes, or major fraction thereof,
cast for the Republican Candidate for Governor in the immediately preceding
gubernatorial election.
3. One (1) delegate for each Republican holding countywide office.
4. One (1) delegate for each Republican holding the office of Justice of the Peace.
5. One (1) delegate for each College Republican club in the county in good standing
with the AFCR.
6. One (1) delegate for each Republican Women’s Club in the county in good
standing with the AFRW and NFRW.
7. One (1) delegate for each Young Republican Club in the county in good standing
with the AFYR.
Note: Voting members of the State Committee shall not be
delegates to the Special District Convention.
The call for the Special Meeting of the County Convention shall be mailed 15 days in
advance of the meeting date. At least 15 days prior to the date of the Special Meeting of
the County Convention the County Chairman shall advertise or publish in a county
newspaper of general circulation, the time, date and location of the Special Meeting of
the County Convention. The Special Meeting of the County Convention may be held on
the same date as the regular County Committee Meeting.
The Special Meeting of the County Convention held during the month of April 2008 shall
be adjourned at the conclusion of the meeting. The regular County Convention shall be
convened on June 16, 2008.
Delegates elected to the Special District Convention, to be held on May 17, 2008, shall
serve only for the Special District Convention. Members of the District Committee shall
be elected at the June 16, 2008 County Convention.
Voting members of the State Committee shall not be delegates to the Special District
Convention. State Committee Members will vote on at-large Delegates/Alternates at the
State Committee Meeting on June 14, 2008.
In selecting your delegates, we encourage you to comply with the RNC Rule No. 14 on
participation:
“The Republican National Committee and the Republican State Committee or
governing committee of each state shall take positive action to achieve the broadest
possible participation by men and women, young people, minority and heritage groups,
senior citizens, and all other citizens in the delegate selection process.
“The provisions of these rules are not intended to be the basis of any kind of
quota system”.
Special District Convention for the purpose of electing District Delegates and
Alternates to the 2008 Republican National Convention shall be held on May 17,
2008.
ELECTION OF CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DELEGATES/ALTERNATES: Three (3)
Congressional District (CD) delegates and three (3) CD alternates shall be elected from
each of the four (4) CDs at Special District Conventions to be held on May 17, 2008.
Voting delegates at the Special District Conventions shall be selected at Special
Conventions held by each County in April 2008. The number of delegates to be elected
to serve at the Special District Conventions shall be equal to the number of persons each
county has on the District Committee. The allocation of delegates at the district level
shall be allocated according to votes received by the presidential candidates in the
presidential primary within the district. Any adjustment to the allocation will be made at
the state level (at-large). The Rules Committee shall determine any questions on
allocations based on the presidential primary votes.
ELECTION OF AT-LARGE DELEGATES/ALTERNATES: Nineteen (19) at-large delegates
and nineteen (19) at-large alternates shall be elected by the Republican State Committee
after the 2008 Republican presidential primary. Only those presidential candidates
receiving a minimum of 10% of the total statewide votes cast in the GOP primary are
entitled to receive delegates or alternates to the Republican National Convention.
A State Committee Meeting will be held on June 14, 2008 for the purpose of electing
at-large Delegates and Alternates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.
PROCEDURE FOR ALLOCATION OF DELEGATES:
1. Each Congressional District shall elect three delegates and three alternates which
shall be assigned to the candidates by the following method:
A. Any candidate in the presidential primary who receives a majority of
the votes in any congressional district shall be allocated all three
delegate and alternate positions from that district.
B. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in any district, the
candidate who receives a plurality of the vote in that district shall be
allocated two delegate and alternate positions from that district and the
runner-up candidate shall receive one delegate and alternate position
from that district.
C. In the event an insufficient number of candidates for delegate and
alternate have filed in any district committed to any presidential
candidate who is allocated delegate or alternate positions, those
positions which can not be filled from delegate/alternate candidates
committed to that presidential candidate shall be reallocated to the
presidential candidate receiving the highest number of votes in that
district who has remaining candidates for delegate or alternate from
that district committed to that presidential candidate available to fill
the allocated positions.
2. At-Large delegates and alternates shall be assigned to the candidates by the
following method:
A. Each presidential candidate receiving ten (10) percent of the
vote statewide shall be allocated one delegate and alternate.
B. Any presidential candidate who receives a majority of the presidential
primary vote statewide shall be allocated the remaining at-large
delegates and alternates.
C. If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the vote statewide,
The remaining at-large delegates and alternates shall be allocated
among the three candidates receiving the greatest vote statewide in
proportion to their votes with any fractional proportion of a
delegate/alternate being rounded up for the candidate receiving the
greater number of votes statewide.
D. In the event an insufficient number of candidates for delegate and
alternate have filed committed to any presidential candidate who is
allocated delegate or alternate positions, those positions which can not
be filled from delegate/alternate candidates committed to that
presidential candidate shall be reallocated to the presidential candidate
receiving the highest number of votes statewide who has remaining
candidates for delegate or alternate committed to the presidential
candidate available to fill the allocated positions.
VACANCIES: Any vacancies in the delegates or alternates to the Republican National
Convention shall be filled by a majority vote of the elected CD and at-large delegates
and alternates.
NOTE: It may be necessary to adjust some dates listed in the above process to
accommodate RNC requirements for delegate/alternate information or to avoid
conflicts in Arkansas GOP Calendar.
053107dneal