More info on Utah delegates

[Hook]

Tuesday 5 February 2008: All 36 of Utah's delegates to the Republican National Convention are allocated to a presidential contender in today's Utah Presidential Primary.

36 National Convention delegates are to be allocated to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide. [Utah Republican Party Bylaws 7.0.B]
The 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Utah's Republican Party, will attend the convention as pledged delegates by virtue of their position.

Saturday 10 May 2008: The Utah State Republican Convention convenes.


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On the first ballot, the national delegation are bound to vote for the candidate who has received the most votes in the Republican Presidential Primary. The delegation is not bound on subsequent ballots. [Utah Republican Party Bylaws 7.0.B]

[Spideynw]

Do you know how to become a delegate?

[Ron Paul Fanatico]

Someone needs to get the information out now on how to become a delegate from the state of Utah for the national convention. We need to get this info out so people can start planning. If we wait much longer to organize it will be too late!

[withallmyheart]

The primary is on February 5th.

On March 25th there is what's called a caucus. It is at this caucus that WE, Ron Paul supporters MUST be involved in order for Ron Paul to win. At the caucus everyone (not really everyone but everyone that shows up) will be voting for a delegate (sometime more than 2) from each precinct to the Utah State Republican Convention. The people at the caucus will be you and your neighbors as this caucus at the precinct level. Your neighbors (that you recruit) will vote for you to be a delegate to the State convention. That is why we are going out now to find out who the Ron Paul supporters are in each of our own precincts. When you go to the caucus you will need to bring about 15 of your neighbors from your same precinct who are registered Republicans to vote for you to be the delegate from your precinct. If it's not you then a neighbor who supports Ron Paul. We need a Ron Paul supporters elected as delegates.

On May 10, 2008, the delegates who were elected at the precinct level will meet in Orem to elect State delegates to the National Convention. So you see, the more delegates who support Ron Paul we have at the precinct level the more we will have at the State level.

Now you are saying, "Okay, but what about the outcome of the primary. Doesn't that vote count for something?"

Yes...but.

Fast forward to the Republican National Convention in September 2008. Each state is represented by it's designated number of delegates. Utah has 36. Each state casts its votes, one round at a time. For Utah delegates, in the FIRST round and first round ONLY, they are legally bound to cast all 36 votes to the winner of February's primary. It is unlikely that there will be a Republican presidential nominee in the first round. On subsequent rounds of voting each of Utah's 36 delegates are allowed to vote for the candidate they want. If the 36 delegates are Ron Paul supporters that will be 36 votes for Ron Paul.

Hope this helps.

[Ron Paul Fanatico]

For Utah delegates, in the FIRST round and first round ONLY, they are legally bound to cast all 36 votes to the winner of February's primary. It is unlikely that there will be a Republican presidential nominee in the first round. On subsequent rounds of voting each of Utah's 36 delegates are allowed to vote for the candidate they want. If the 36 delegates are Ron Paul supporters that will be 36 votes for Ron Paul.

Hope this helps.

If they are legally bound to cast there vote for the winner of the primary then it would be unanimous with all 36 votes going to one candidate and so no need for a subsequent round. Did you mean to say that the first round of voting is more like an electoral college?

Also you stated that the precing meetings are in March. I would think they would be closer to the primary date of Feb. 5th. Are you for sure on this?

Lastly, When you go to the Precinct meeting are county delegates and state delegates chosen? If so you would want to be a state delegate right? From being a state delegate you then have to go on to the state meeting where you get voted in as a national delegate? How does this work as there will be alot of Romney people there? Are people tight lipped about who they are supporting? How do you get the votes? By gathering all the Ron Paul people together and voting for just certain people?

Alot of questions but I appreciate your help if you understand any of this. It has been hard to figure this out. There is no information out there. My county chairman knows very little about all of this.

[withallmyheart]

If they are legally bound to cast there vote for the winner of the primary then it would be unanimous with all 36 votes going to one candidate Yes and remember we're talking about being at the National Convention at this point.

and so no need for a subsequent round. Depends. Because of the field of candidates it is not anticipated that one presidential candidate will have 51 % of the votes on the first round of voting. Assuming no candidate has the 51 %, the entire convention votes again, Round 2. As far as the Utah delegates are concerned, on the Round 2, all 36 delegates can vote for whomever they want. So when the delegation from Utah is asked how they vote, the vote can be split 'x' number of ways. It'd be wonderful if all 36 delegates then voted for Ron Paul.

Did you mean to say that the first round of voting is more like an electoral college?

Also you stated that the precing meetings are in March. I would think they would be closer to the primary date of Feb. 5th. Are you for sure on this? Yes. See Utah GOP calendar of events http://home.utgop.org/page.php?page_id=12

Lastly, When you go to the Precinct meeting are county delegates and state delegates chosen? Yes

If so you would want to be a state delegate right? Yes. Some precincts have more than one delegate.

From being a state delegate you then have to go on to the state meeting where you get voted in as a national delegate? Yes. State Convention, Saturday, May 10th, 2008, Utah Valley State College, Orem, Utah

How does this work as there will be alot of Romney people there? I'm not sure how this part works and yes I suspect a lot of Romney people will be there.B]

Are people tight lipped about who they are supporting? [B]I'm not sure but I think so. I think you are also tight lipped about who you support at the precinct level also. You're suppose to give some kind of general Republican talk on why you want to be a delegate. That's why you bring your friends (registered Republicans from your precinct) from your neighborhood to vote for you.

How do you get the votes? By gathering all the Ron Paul people together and voting for just certain people? Yes. But how do we know who are RP people? I'd imagine by networking with Meetups, and Andre, HQ State coordinator

Alot of questions but I appreciate your help if you understand any of this. It has been hard to figure this out. There is no information out there. My county chairman knows very little about all of this.
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My answers to your questions are in bold above.

I am hopeful more info will be coming from HQ about the process when we get closer to the caucus date. Right now the thing to be doing is finding RP supporters in your precinct. Ask them if they are registered Republicans. (being a supporter but not registered Republican is not going to help us at the polls on Feb. 5th. Once you have found 10 - 15 RP supporters who will vote for you at the caucus I would move on to another precinct to find RP supporters in that precinct and someone who is interested in becoming a delegate.

Are you a member of a Meetup?

[Ron Paul Fanatico]

Thanks for the reply. If you get any additional information please post it here or you could also email me at stevenwinterton@hotmail.com