[EL] Jim (& other RNC members) -- any insight into why RNC ignores its 2010 rule on winner-take-all primaries before April 1?

[Rob Richie]

Hi, Jim,

I thought you might be able to clear up for this listserv why the
Republican National Committee apparently plans to allow Florida to hold a
winner-take-all primary this week without penalty.

In 2010, the Republican National Committee adopted this rule: "Any
presidential primary,caucus, convention, or other meeting held for
the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention which occurs
prior to the first day of April 19 of 41 in the year in which the national
convention is held, shall provide for the allocation of delegates on
a proportional basis." (See Rule 15b at:
http://www.gop.com/images/legal/2008_RULES_Adopted.pdf )

The 2010 rule also changed the the schedule in a way designed to have
initial nomination contests in February. When Florida insisted on holding a
January primary, South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire also moved their
contests into January. The RNC responded by taking half the convention
delegates away from SC, NH and F, along with states like MI and AZ voting
earlier than allowed under the rules (but not Iowa, because Iowa doesn't
bind delegates with its straw poll in January).

Florida, however, in addition is prepared to violate the 2010 rule on not
using winner-take-all. Like Arizona and Puerto Rico, which also are holding
winner-take-all contests before April 1st, it apparently is facing no
penalty for doing so -- seemingly inviting a convention challenge to those
delegates.(As an aside, South Carolina was given an exemption from the rule
-- Gingrich likely will end up with all 25 delegates if the final vote
shows him carrying all 7 congressional districts, as anticipated.)

Below is a link to a story from Marketwatch. It has a curious quote
from Kirsten Kukowski, identified as spokeswoman for the RNC. She says the
national group gave no formal nod to Florida’s winner-take-all system, but
doesn’t  approve or disapprove of such plans.

But why wouldn't the 2010 rules indicate the RNC disapproves of such a
plan? Is there a way to understand why the RNC enforces some rules and not
others?

Finally, although the media generallly doesn't get this issue, as most
pundits in their hyper way treat all contests as if they were
winner-take-all (thus the silly focus on who "won" Iowa with less than 25%
of a straw poll), but Florida's decision to violate the rules has a very
real impact on how candidates campaign and who may win the nomination
contest. For instance, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul have both said that they
will focus on states with proportional allocation, as they earn rewards for
political activity and votes even when not finishing first. Here are links
to some FairVote's resources on this topic:

Delegate allocation rules in 2012 GOP
race<http://www.fairvote.org/delegate-allocation-rules-in-2012-gop#.Txt02mNSTut>

Open, closed and mixed primaries,
state-by-state<http://www.fairvote.org/congressional-and-presidential-primaries-open-closed-semi-closed-and-top-two#.Txt1umNSTus>


South Carolina Primary: One Candidate May Easily Win All
Delegates<http://www.fairvote.org/south-carolina-primary-one-candidate-may-easily-win-all-delegates#.Txt17GNSTus>

Understanding How Proportional Representation Worked in
NH<http://www.fairvote.org/gop-primaries-proportional-representation-nh/#.TxnnwlsppGY>


*State-by-State Popular Votes and Delegates won in GOP 2012 Primary
Races*<http://fairvote.org/gop-2012-primary-race-results>

Thanks,
Rob Richie, FairVote

######
EXCERPTS FROM...

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/election/2012/01/27/gop-tries-to-quash-rumors-of-change-in-floridas-winner-take-all/

GOP tries to quash rumors of change in Florida’s winner-take-all
January 27, 2012

Rumors have been circulating around Florida in recent days that a challenge
is looming to the state’s winner-take-all primary system, but Republican
officials there say the chances of such an appeal being successful are
virtually zero.

All of Florida’s 50 delegates are likely to go to either former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the two
frontrunners in the GOP contest there. There has been talk that the
runner-up in a tight race might contest the winner-take-all rule, since
many other states dole out delegates proportionately to election
results......

....Kirsten Kukowski, spokeswoman for the RNC, says the national group gave
no formal nod to Florida’s winner-take-all system; it doesn’t approve or
disapprove of such plans. The state, however, was penalized for holding its
primary earlier than April 1 and lost half of what had been a 99-delegate
slate for moving up its election. It was one of several states that lost
half its delegates for moving their primaries ahead of the national
committee’s planned schedule, including Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire
and South Carolina.



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Rob Richie
Executive Director

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