Nebraska's Modified Primary/Caucus Process and How to Become a Delegate

[tsai3904]

Nebraska has a modified primary/caucus system where the primary election for the Republican nominee for President has no binding effect on how delegates are allocated. Instead, delegates to the National Convention will be selected through the process below:


Modified Primary/Caucus Process

1. On the day of the primary, May 15, 2012, registered Republicans will vote for the Republican nominee for President and, separately, delegates to the County Convention. The vote for the Republican nominee for President will have no binding effect whatsoever (it is meaningless). What matters are the candidates running for delegates. You need to find out which candidate for delegate is a Ron Paul supporter and vote for him or run as a delegate yourself and have people vote for you.

2. At County Conventions between June 1-7, 2012, delegates will elect 400 delegates and 400 alternates to the State Convention.

3. At the State Convention on July 14, 2012, delegates will elect 32 delegates and 32 alternates to the National Convention.


How to Become a Delegate to the County Convention

1. You must be a registered Republican.

2. Submit a form to your local County Election Commissioner or County Clerk to be placed as a candidate for delegate to the County Convention on the May 15 primary ballot. The form must be notarized and received on or before March 1, 2012. Click here to download the form.

3. Win the election to move on as a delegate to the County Convention.

4. If you miss the deadline to file as a delegate or do not win the election, still show up at the County Convention. Registered Republicans at the County Convention will be selected to fill any vacant delegate positions. There will be many vacant positions.


How to Become a Delegate to the State Convention

1. You must be a delegate to the County Convention.

2. You must be nominated from the floor of the County Convention.

3. Win the election to move on as a delegate to the State Convention.


How to Become a Delegate to the National Convention

1. File for election in person or by mailing a notice of intent to the Nebraska Republican Headquarters postmarked no later than May 29, 2012. I do not know yet where to get the form to file for election.

2. In order to qualify as a candidate for delegate to the National Convention, you must be a delegate or alternate to the State Convention.


Summary

1. Make sure you are a registered Republican and your voter registration information is up to date. You can check your registration status here: https://www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/

2. Fill out this form here, have it notarized and submit it to your local County Election Commissioner or County Clerk before March 1, 2012.

[Nubraskan]

2. Submit a form to your local County Election Commissioner or County Clerk to be placed as a candidate for delegate to the County Convention on the May 15 primary ballot. The form must be notarized and received on or before March 1, 2012. Click here to download the form.

3. Win the election to move on as a delegate to the County Convention.

What ballots will I appear on? Every ballot in the county? Could you elaborate on what it takes to win the election?

[tsai3904]

What ballots will I appear on? Every ballot in the county? Could you elaborate on what it takes to win the election?

I'm not sure about your first question, but as far as the second question, each precinct gets to elect at least 2 delegates (some precincts get a lot more).

If your precinct is allowed 2 delegates and there are only 1 or 2 people running, you will win by default as long as you get one vote. If there are 3 people running for delegates and there are only 2 positions, the top 2 vote getters will become delegates.

The fact is most precincts will have no one running as delegates. Just by getting your name on the ballot, you will have a good shot at winning. Please try to get all the supporters you know to file the form.

[Drex]

Bump.

[Nubraskan]

Thanks for the information. My main concern was running against a real person putting time and effort into gathering votes. Hopefully it's as simple as being on the ballot.

It looks like the form you linked to has a reverse side per the line that says "see reverse for more information". I'll set out to find the rest of the form and perhaps contact the people mentioned on the form for more information on this. I'll do everything I can to get all the Nebraska Paul supporters I can to participate.

[Nubraskan]

I found the reverse of that form, though it wasn't of much use. It only details how you may display your name on the ballot. Meanwhile, I've contacted the Lancaster county election commissioner via e-mail and I'm awaiting his response to some useful questions. I'll post it in this thread when I hear back and maintain this as our unofficial knowledge base for running as republican delegate in Nebraska unless I find a better one.

[Nubraskan]

I got in touch with Laura Ebke, of the Republican Liberty Caucus. She say's she has experience with the process and coordinated efforts for Paul in 2008. She also said she'll be doing some work and may be providing educational opportunities about with respect to the delegate process. I had not heard of RLC prior to emailing her, but it looks like an organization that spawned out of Dr. Paul's '88 campaign. Interesting.

http://www.rlc.org/about/chapters/NE/

I think I've found the coordinated effort I've been looking for. As this progresses we'll need to focus on gathering supporters to be involved in the process.

[Drex]

Thanks Nubraskan!

[pebcak]

I got in touch with Laura Ebke, of the Republican Liberty Caucus. She say's she has experience with the process and coordinated efforts for Paul in 2008. She also said she'll be doing some work and may be providing educational opportunities about with respect to the delegate process. I had not heard of RLC prior to emailing her, but it looks like an organization that spawned out of Dr. Paul's '88 campaign. Interesting.

http://www.rlc.org/about/chapters/NE/

I think I've found the coordinated effort I've been looking for. As this progresses we'll need to focus on gathering supporters to be involved in the process.

Yes the RLC is a good organization to get involved with here in Nebraska! The C4L is good too, however we're not allowed to be affiliated with any partisan politics and can only focus on the issues. Either way, it's pretty much the same people involved in either group. Make sure you have that delegate form in by March 1st. In Lancaster county you need to take it to the county election commissioner's office on 46th St. They can notarize it right then when you bring it. Then comes the hard part: getting elected at the county convention to go to the state convention. I would recommend also that you file your notice of intent for going to the national convention. This does not obligate you to anything. It only means that if you get to the state level then if you're willing, hopefully we can coordinate an effort to get as many liberty people to national as possible. Last time around we got 3 out of 30 delegates, but those 3 were the only ones who had filed intent to go to national. Anyone else who would have filed, we could have gotten them to national as well.

[Nubraskan]

Then comes the hard part: getting elected at the county convention to go to the state convention.

Could you briefly describe what that involves?

I would recommend also that you file your notice of intent for going to the national convention. This does not obligate you to anything. It only means that if you get to the state level then if you're willing, hopefully we can coordinate an effort to get as many liberty people to national as possible. Last time around we got 3 out of 30 delegates, but those 3 were the only ones who had filed intent to go to national. Anyone else who would have filed, we could have gotten them to national as well.

Who do we file our intent with? Is it required for a trip to the national convention?

Perhaps I can wait and have these questions answered by RLC educational material...

[pebcak]

Could you briefly describe what that involves?



Who do we file our intent with? Is it required for a trip to the national convention?

Perhaps I can wait and have these questions answered by RLC educational material...

Getting to the state convention depends on where you live. When you go to the county convention at some point there will be a delegate nomination process. Someone will have to nominate you or you can nominate yourself. Then there must be a vote on who gets to go to state. In more rural counties there may be enough slots that you are uncontested and everyone who wishes gets to go, or perhaps you will just need to bring a friend or two. In Lancaster county it is much more difficult because of the number of long time GOPers in attendence, which includes office holders and former office holders. To get to state in Lancaster you will need at least 5 or 6 people from your legislative district to agree to vote for each other, plus you may need to gather a few votes from the other people in attendance. If you look respectable and are cordial, that should be quite possible. Usually you will get some time to give a short speech about yourself before any votes are cast. The way to win this is to have people you know and be organized. Hopefully we have enough time left to pull this off, which I'll be working on in coming weeks. If you are in Douglas or Sarpy county, I can get you in contact with people there who are organizing.

The filing for intent to go to national is a form that you will have to send to the state GOP, but it isn't due until 10 business days after the state primary, which is sometime in May. I wouldn't worry about that yet. The key thing is to get to the election commissioner and get the delegate form filled out before March 1st.

[pebcak]

Could you briefly describe what that involves?



Who do we file our intent with? Is it required for a trip to the national convention?

Perhaps I can wait and have these questions answered by RLC educational material...

For your first question, that depends where you live. If you are in a more rural county it may not be hard at all. Sometime at the county convention process there will be delegate nomination in which someone will have to nominate you or you can nominate yourself. If not many people are in attendance there may be no contest for slots and you will be guaranteed a trip to state. Otherwise there will be a vote where you could give a short speech about yourself beforehand. If they skip it, you can motion that each person get some time to speak first. This is where it helps to have friends and to be cordial and dressed decently when you arrive. In Lancaster county you will need 5 or 6 friends from your legislative district to get to state, and you may need to gather a few votes from people who are there. There is a lot of competition with long time GOPers who are in office or have formerly held an office, especially on presidential election years. You also have young party political hopefuls who will be vying for a spot. This is where it is vital that we come prepared and organized. It is not at all impossible to pull it off. If you are in Douglas or Sarpy county, I can give you contact information for people who will be organizing in that area.

For filing intent, that isn't due until 10 business days after our state primary in May. It's a form which you must send to the state GOP. At this point we have to be concerned with getting as many people as we can to file as a delegate at the county election commissioner office by March 1st, then coming together and getting organized so that we know who to vote for.

[pebcak]

Bah, double posted. I thought I lost the first one and typed it all up again for nothing.

[Drex]

edit: repost

[treyball3]

I just started doing research on becoming a delegate in Nebraska, and it appears I have missed the March 1 deadline! Darnit! So, what do I do now? I live in Saline county, so its not a super populated area. In the first post, it was mentioned to still show up and maybe I can still get in. Is that true? What should I do at this point?