Ties to Arkansas don’t secure delegates to conventions

by Jim Brooks, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: The 2008 presidential race is particularly interesting for Arkansans because two candidates — one in each major party — have links to the state. But . . .those Arkansas ties don’t necessarily give either Republican former Gov. Mike Huckabee or Democratic former first lady Hillary Clinton a procedural advantage in the selection of delegates for next summer’s national conventions.

“There’s no benefit for any one candidate,” said state Republican Party spokesman Karen Ray of her party’s process. “It’s all based on the [primary ] vote totals.” The parties’ mechanisms for selecting delegates differ in a few aspects. The document outlining the Republican Party’s process is four pages long; the Democratic Party’s procedures take up 32. The Democratic delegates pledged to a candidate have to be approved by that candidate’s campaigns, and must be equally divided between men and women, and preference is given to minorities in the selection of at-large delegates. . . .

But about half of the delegates in both parties will be “at-large” delegates, meaning they don’t have to submit a pledge to a specific candidate beforehand. And among those at-large delegates are so-called “super delegates” — party or elected officials, many of whom have already expressed a preference in the race. . . . As super delegates, they would be free to cast their votes for any candidate. . . . There is no special provision in Republican Party rules setting aside delegate positions for other elected officials, meaning that U. S. Rep. John Boozman or the party’s candidate for governor in 2006, Asa Hutchinson, would have to go through the regular delegate selection process . . . .

Arkansas is allowed 34 delegates to the Republican convention, which will be at the XCEL Center in Minneapolis from Sept. 1-4. Twelve delegates — three per congressional district — will be selected at district conventions, with the remaining delegates chosen at a state convention. The district delegates are pledged to a specific candidate, and presidential campaigns can submit lists of their preferred delegates, Ray said. “They can submit their preferences and we will note on the ballot that is the preferred delegate for whichever nominee,” Ray said.

Any candidate in the presidential primary who receives a majority of votes in a district will be awarded all three of that district’s delegates and alternates. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the candidate who receives the most votes in that district will be allocated two delegates and two alternates and the runner-up will receive the remaining delegates. At-large delegates will be allotted on the basis of a formula that will give any candidate receiving 10 percent of the statewide vote one delegate and one alternate. The candidate who receives a majority of the primary vote will receive the remaining at-large delegates. . . . [Read More]

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