PRESS RELEASE from Idaho Republican Party 
March 7, 2012

Idaho Republican Party Announces 2012 Caucus Results

Boise, Idaho – The Idaho Republican Party announced its Caucus results today, with Mitt Romney declared the winner of the 2012 Idaho Republican Party Presidential Caucus. By winning over 50 percent of the counties’ proportion of delegates, Mitt Romney will therefore receive all of Idaho’s 32 delegates to the Republican National Convention. Across the state, over 44,000 enthusiastic Idaho Republicans made history by participating in the first ever Idaho Republican Party Presidential Caucus.

“I congratulate Mitt Romney on his victory in the Idaho Republican Party’s first ever Presidential Caucus,” stated Chairman Norm Semanko. Semanko continued, “For the first time in many years, Idaho Republicans played a key role in the Republican Presidential nomination process, and we look forward to making Barack Obama a one-term President.”

The county delegate results with 100% of counties reporting are as follows:

Mitt Romney: 25

Rick Santorum: 4

Ron Paul: 3

Newt Gingrich: 0

Buddy Roemer: 0

Total Delegates: 32

Note: Due to Article VI, Section 5 of the Rules of the Idaho Republican Party pertaining to Apportionment and Selection of Delegates to the Republican National Convention, once certified, Mitt Romney will receive all of Idaho’s 32 delegates.


http://www.idaho-republican-caucus.com/

Caucus Results
If any candidate receives over 50% of the County delegates, that candidate will receive all 32 Idaho delegates.
If no candidate receives over 50% of the delegates, the delegates will be divided proportionally.


Newt Gingrich   Ron Paul     Buddy Roemer Mitt Romney   Rick Santorum
                               
Total:     0     3.16     0     24.72     4.1
                               
Counties:         Bonner 0.73         Ada 5.41   Benewah 0.32
          Boundary 0.4         Adams 0.32   Clearwater 0.32
          Camas 0.24         Bannock 1.37   Kootenai 2.02
          Idaho 0.57         Bear Lake 0.4   Lewis 0.32
          Latah 0.57         Bingham 0.97   Owyhee 0.4
          Nez Perce 0.65         Blaine 0.49   Shoshone 0.32
                      Boise 0.32   Washington 0.4
                      Bonneville 2.02      
                      Butte 0.32      
                      Canyon 2.26      
                      Caribou 0.4      
                      Cassia 0.65      
                      Clark 0.24      
                      Custer 0.32      
                      Elmore 0.57      
                      Franklin 0.49      
                      Fremont 0.49      
                      Gem 0.49      
                      Gooding 0.49      
                      Jefferson 0.73      
                      Jerome 0.57      
                      Lemhi 0.4      
                      Lincoln 0.32      
                      Madison 0.73      
                      Minidoka 0.57      
                      Oneida 0.32      
                      Payette 0.49      
                      Power 0.4      
                      Teton 0.4      
                      Twin Falls 1.37      
                      Valley 0.4      


http://idgop.org/presidential-caucus-faq/
Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

 Idaho GOP Rules Committee – January 24, 2012

 1.  Why should Idaho have a Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus?

Idaho deserves a voice in the Presidential nominating process.  Folks in Carey, Idaho deserve to have the same input on our next president as folks in Concord, New Hampshire.  Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case in recent Presidential election cycles.  Many states have moved their primaries or caucuses to earlier dates, leaving states like Idaho lagging far behind.  With a  large majority of states casting their votes early in the process, the nominee is usually decided by late February or March, and, with the Idaho Primary coming months later, in late May, we have no real voice on who becomes the Republican Presidential nominee.

 Idaho has 32 delegates to send to the national convention.  That is more delegates than Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.  Idaho will be a big early prize for the winning Republican Presidential candidate, and we should expect to see candidates paying more attention to Idaho Republican voters as we lead up to the Idaho Caucus.

 2.  How does the Caucus work?

The first Tuesday in March, the day of Idaho’s Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus, every county in the state will hold a County Caucus.

 The voting will be conducted by secret ballot and takes place in successive rounds.  Each round, low vote-getters are eliminated.  Voting ends in either of two circumstances:  a) one candidate receives a simple majority of at least 50% of the vote; or b) only two final candidates remain on the ballot and the final vote is taken.

 Delegates for the Republican National Convention will be apportioned according to the Counties’ state convention apportionment and the voting totals from the County Caucuses with the proviso that any candidate who receives more than 50% of the statewide County Caucus delegates total will be awarded all the Idaho delegates for the Republican National Convention.

 3.  Who votes in the Caucus?

All registered Republican voters in the county are eligible to vote in the County Caucuses.  Voters may register to vote as Republicans as they enter the Caucus site.

 4.  Prior to this change how did the old primary system work?

For the old system: in May of a Presidential election year, Idaho would hold a Primary Election.  The Primary Election determined the allocation of 24 of Idaho’s 32 delegates to the Republican National Convention.   Of the 32 delegates to the National Convention, 24 delegates were counted as “soft pledged” and could change their votes if they desired.  The remaining 8 delegates were unpledged, and could vote for any viable candidate they wished at the convention.

 The Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus will result in 32 pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention, allocated according to the County Caucus voting—likely with all delegates pledged to one Presidential candidate.  (As usual, if a second ballot is required at the national convention, those delegates are released from their pledge.)

 5.  Isn’t a restricted Caucus system less democratic than a Primary System?

The Caucus will be open to all registered Republican voters.  Many other Caucus states restrict the voting to only precinct chairs and county officers.  Any republican who usually votes in the Republican Primaries is welcome and encouraged to also participate in the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus.  Again, all Republicans can vote in the caucus.

 6.  What is wrong with the Primary that makes a change to a Caucus system necessary?

The primary system has several problems, but the timing of the primary and the binding of delegates are the two largest problems.  The proposed Caucus system fixes these two problems.

 Most folks realize that Idaho’s primary comes very late in the process.  Currently, only 6 states have primaries later than Idaho’s.  The Caucus system would put Idaho on the “super-Tuesday” in March or earlier, with several other states.  By rule, only 4 states will have primaries or caucuses earlier than Idaho (or else suffer losing delegates as a penalty).  With a Caucus system, leading Presidential candidates may see Idaho as an important piece to their strategies to win the nomination (32 delegates are at stake).  Idaho will have a voice in the Presidential nomination process.

 In addition, not all of Idaho’s delegates to the Republican National Convention are bound to the winning candidate of the Primary elections.  As a result, candidates have less incentive to come to Idaho to seek the support of Idaho voters and to consider many of the issues important to Idaho voters.

 With a Caucus system, leading Presidential candidates will be interested in receiving as much early support as possible, and that would include the Idaho Caucus.  Additionally, the candidates would be confident of receiving all the delegates that are pledged as a result of the Caucus.

 7.  Why did we change to a Caucus when it was just decided to have closed primaries?

The Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus will be for the Presidential nomination only.  The Caucus will not change the timing or the process of the primaries.  Again, the motivation for the changes is about timing and voice.  Idaho will have a more important role with the Caucus.

 8.  What is a delegate and why are they important at the Republican National Convention?

The term “delegate” refers to a person elected by Idaho Republicans to represent Idaho at the Republican National Convention.  To nominate the party’s candidate for President, each state sends a number of delegates to the Republican National Convention.  There, a vote is taken to determine which candidate has the most support from the delegates, and that candidate becomes the Republican Nominee for President.  There are only 2,422 total delegates, therefore a single delegate’s vote carries a lot of weight in choosing our Presidential nominee.

 9.  Do other states hold a Presidential Caucus, and are they similar to the Idaho Caucus?

Yes. Currently there are at least 20 other states that have some form of a caucus or convention system.  In creating the new Idaho Caucus we were able to pick the best parts of the systems already in place throughout the country so that we could implement a new system quickly and effectively. You have to look no further than Wyoming to find a system very similar to Idaho’s new Caucus. However, the Wyoming caucus is more restrictive than Idaho’s, essentially allowing only precinct men and women to vote.

 10.  Why not just move the entire primary election from May to March?

The Idaho Primary involves much more than voting for Presidential Nominees.  The primary includes selecting nominees for many local, state, and federal offices.  We do not need to change the timing for all nominations to have a national voice in the Presidential race.  For a voice in the Presidential Nomination process, we need only to have a Caucus moved to March. 

 Also, the timing of the Idaho Primary is set by Idaho Statute to be in late May (mainly to accommodate legislators’ campaign efforts following a legislative session).  Moving the Primary to March would require legislative action and make it difficult for incumbent legislators to run their primary campaigns.

 11.  Won’t a Caucus System invite criticism for the Republican Party?

For something as important as choosing our Presidential Nominee, we should worry less about criticism than about making sure the process works for Idaho Republicans to help select the best possible nominee for the office of President.  Many other states use a caucus system; Idaho Republicans will be doing what those states already do.

 12.  This is a big move, why does it seem so rushed?

To comply with the rules of the Republican National Committee, any changes to Idaho’s national convention delegate selection process had to be adopted prior to October 2011.  However Idaho’s new Caucus proposal was given careful consideration prior to being adopted. The proposal had already gone through several steps before being put to the committee for consideration.  First, it was reviewed by the Idaho Republican Party Rules Committee in early February, where it was proposed to form a subcommittee to write rules for a caucus—the proposal passed unanimously.  Second, the subcommittee researched many other caucus systems, and it agreed that this system is best for Idaho.  In June, it was agreed unanimously to submit the changes to the State Central Committee.  In July, it was debated and passed at a meeting of the Idaho Republican Party State Central Committee, where representatives from every corner of the state gather to offer their input.

 13.  What happens if the winner of the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus is not the same person who ends up as the “presumptive nominee” at the Republican National Convention?  Will we be wasting our Idaho delegate votes?

The Caucus rules provide for safeguards for this scenario. First, Idaho’s delegates are only bound to vote for the winner of the Idaho Caucus on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention, leaving them free to vote for a different candidate if a second ballot is required. Also, the winning candidate of the Idaho Caucus is allowed to release Idaho’s delegates to a different candidate by writing a letter to that effect to the State Chairman of the Idaho GOP.

 14.  Will guidelines be available for County Central Committees informing them how best to conduct the Caucus process and voting procedures?

Yes, the Idaho Republican Party will play a supporting role to help make the process work and to help educate the counties and their leadership on how the Caucus system will be conducted.


Rules Pertaining to Caucus & Delegate Selection

RULES FOR SELECTION OF DELEGATES TO REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION AND THE REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION 

ARTICLE V:  IDAHO REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION CAUCUS

Section 1:  The Idaho Nomination Caucus shall be held on the first Tuesday allowed by the Republican National Committee (RNC), without incurring a penalty.  The Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus is not winner-take-all; accordingly the RNC allows Idaho an early caucus opportunity (typically in February or March). 

(a)  For a candidate to be placed on the official ballot for the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus, he or she shall submit a $2,000 filing fee to the Idaho Republican Party no later than 30 days prior to the caucus date.  The fees will be distributed evenly among the 44 county central committees to offset counties’ costs of conducting their caucuses.

Section 2:  The Idaho GOP Chairman shall send official notice of the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus to counties no later than 45 days prior to the caucus.  Idaho GOP Headquarters shall provide County Chairmen with the recommended form for providing notice to caucus voters. No later than 20 days prior to the caucus, the Idaho GOP Chairman will notify all county central committee chairs of the candidates to be included in the official caucus voting.


Section 3:  Each County Chairman shall notify the voters as soon as possible, but no later than ten (10) days prior to the Caucus.  Notification should be printed in the local paper or provided by another recognized means of announcing the caucus time and location(s).  Phone calls or emails to caucus voters are strongly encouraged.  The County Chairman shall notify the Idaho GOP Headquarters of the meeting location(s) ten (10) days prior to the caucus. 

 

Section 4:  Any individuals desiring to have their names voted on at the Idaho Republican Presidential Caucus shall submit a declaration of candidacy along with a $2,000.00 filing fee, at least 30 days from the date of the caucus.  The campaign of each qualifying candidate is entitled to space on the caucus floor.


Section 5: Idaho GOP Headquarters shall provide each County Chairman with the recommended form for a ballot to be used in caucus voting.  Each county shall provide enough ballots and/or tokens to conduct the caucus. The State Chairman may grant any county’s request to use a method of voting that does not consist of paper ballots.  The State Executive Committee may appoint representatives to oversee any aspect of any county’s caucus process.


Section 6:  All registered Republicans of the county, including same-day registrants, as well as 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the date of the General Election who have completed a registration card or, if 17, have signed an affidavit indicating their age and eligibility, are entitled to participate in their county’s caucus.  All caucus voters must sign a register next to their name or verify their name on a spreadsheet to affirm that they are entitled to vote and are present and participating in the caucus.  The County Chair or a designate will call the meeting to order.  Prior to voting, the County Chair or a designate will instruct the participants of the voting procedures and how the ballots will be counted.   The Chair or designate shall also allow for each candidate on the ballot, or a representative of their campaign, to offer some brief remarks to the assembly, and at the start of each successive round, should such rounds be provided for. 


Section 7:  Voting takes place in successive rounds.   After each round, the candidate receiving the fewest votes and any candidate(s) receiving fewer than 15% of the Caucus vote are removed from the ballot.  Voting continues until a single candidate receives greater than 50% of the vote, or until a final vote is taken for the final two candidates.


Section 8:  Ballots or tokens shall be distributed at the time specified in the Idaho GOP Chairman’s Caucus Call.  Ballots or tokens shall only be distributed to those registered caucus voters who have signed in.  Ballots or tokens must be collected from caucus voters as they are voted and returned.  This is a secret vote, and County Central Committee members must do everything within their power to ensure that the ballot remains secret.


Section 9:  Ballots and/or tokens shall be counted at the caucus site, supervised by a three-person committee. The committee is appointed by the County Chairman and approved by a majority voice vote of caucus participants. For counties with multiple venues, the Chair will similarly appoint three-person subcommittees to supervise the counting at the extra venues. The County Chairman and the three-person committee will certify the count as correct.


Section 10:  At the end of each round of voting, the County Chairman shall announce the results.  Voting continues until a single candidate receives greater than 50% of the vote or until a final vote is taken for two remaining candidates.  After the final round of voting, the County Chairman shall phone the final results to the Idaho Republican Party Chairman. 


Section 11:  Once all county results have been phoned in, the Idaho GOP Chairman will declare a preliminary winner of the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus.  After voting totals have been counted and called in, the committee-certified report of the final-round voting totals must be placed in a sealed envelope and sent via certified mail or private overnight service to Idaho GOP Headquarters.  The Idaho GOP Chairman will appoint a committee to verify the total of all votes cast for each candidate match the reported county totals.  After the verification of all voting totals, the Idaho GOP Chairman will formally declare the official Caucus winner.



ARTICLE VI:  APPORTIONMENT AND SELECTION OF DELEGATES TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONALCONVENTION

Section 1:  The State Chairman shall appoint a committee to calculate the Delegate apportionment.  After all Caucus votes are counted, the proper apportionment is calculated as follows: 


Section 2:  Each county receives a “weight” equal to its proportion of County Delegates allotted for the State Convention.  For example, if there are 420 total County Delegates allotted for the State Convention and County A has 16 of them, then County A’s weight will be 16/420, or 3.81%.  The County weights will be used to calculate the apportionment of Delegates and Alternates to the Republican National Convention.


Section 3:  Each county’s share of National Delegates is calculated by multiplying the State’s allotment of National Convention Delegates by the county’s weight.  Continuing the example, if the State is allotted 32 National Delegates, then County A would have a share of 3.81% of them, or 1.2192 of the 32 total National Delegates.


(a)  Any county that does not hold a caucus on the date specified in Article V, Section 1, shall have its share of National Delegates apportioned to all participating counties and in the same proportions as detailed in sections 2 and 3 above.


Section 4:  Any candidate winning greater than 50% of a county’s vote will be awarded that entire county’s share of National Delegates.  When neither candidate wins greater than 50%, the candidates will split the county’s share of National Delegates, in proportion to the candidates’ county vote totals. 


Section 5:  The sum of all the Counties’ shares for each candidate, rounding the sum to the nearest whole delegate, will be that candidate’s share of the Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention with the proviso that, if one candidate wins more than 50% of the Idaho allotment of delegates, that candidate shall receive the entire 100% of the allotment of Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention.  If the computation results in an unallocated Delegate, the Delegate shall be assigned to the candidate receiving the highest number of votes in the Idaho Caucus.  If the computation results in the allocation of more Delegates than are available for allocation, the Delegate assignment to the candidate receiving the least number of Caucus votes shall be reduced accordingly.


Section 6:  The State Chairman, in accordance with the agenda of the Idaho Republican State Convention, shall devote one (1) portion of the State Convention meeting to the selection of Delegates to the Republican National Convention in Presidential election years.


Section 7:  Each Republican candidate for President of the United States shall prepare a list of its proposed Republican National Convention delegates for Idaho.  The list must be filed with the Idaho Republican Party no later than 30 days prior to the State Convention.  Eighty percent (80%) of the Idaho Delegates / Alternates to the Republican National Convention shall be selected from the lists of proposed delegates in proportion to the Delegates won in the Idaho Republican Presidential Nomination Caucus as calculated in Section 5 above.  The remaining twenty percent shall be selected as pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention and in the same proportion as the Idaho Caucus apportionment.  These delegates will be selected by the Nominations Committee of the Idaho State Republican Convention.


Section 8:  The Delegates and Alternates elected shall be obliged on the first ballot taken at the Republican National Convention to vote for the candidate who nominated them, provided any Delegates selected as representing the "uncommitted" choice shall be free to cast their vote for any candidate whose name has been placed in nomination before the Republican National Convention.


Section 9: In the event of death or withdrawal of a candidate or release of Delegates by a candidate prior to the first ballot at the National Convention, Delegates committed to such a candidate shall, thereupon, become uncommitted delegates.


Section 10: In the event of the failure of a candidate to file a list of proposed Delegates/Alternates with the Idaho Republican Party, the State Convention may select and specify any persons preferring or identified with said candidate to serve as Delegates/Alternates to the National Convention in such numbers as the candidate is entitled. If a candidate who fails to file the required list also dies, withdraws, or releases Delegates prior to the official commencement of the State Convention, then the State Convention may select uncommitted Delegates/Alternates in such numbers as the candidates would have been entitled.


Section 11: In the event that any candidate is entitled to the selection of a number of Delegates/Alternates greater than the number of those persons whose names were filed with the Idaho Republican Party by the candidate, or in the event a person on the list indicates an inability to serve as a Delegate/Alternate, the State Convention shall select and specify persons to fill those Delegates/Alternates vacancies from a supplemental list filed by the candidate's designated representative with the Idaho Republican Party.


Section 12:  Any individual or official who willfully violates Republican Party rules while conducting any stage of a caucus - to the extent that the results of the caucus can be called into question - shall be penalized by being stripped of their county’s delegates, unless it appears that the rules were intentionally broken for the purpose of stripping such delegates. Any aggrieved party may appeal a violation of the caucus rules through the judicial process of the Idaho Republican Party.  The judicial branch of the party may order that a caucus be re-held, under the supervision of the State Party, if such can be done in a timely fashion, considering the time requirements specified herein.  Any party official engaged in a substantive violation of the rules shall forfeit their office as penalty.


Section 13: Declaring an emergency. Any proposed rule related specifically to the Presidential Caucus shall be in effect upon its passage by the Rules Committee of the State Central Committee, subject to later modification or reversal at the next regular meeting of the State Central Committee.  The Rules Committee may meet by conference call and may vote by phone or email on any matter specifically related to the Presidential Caucus.  This section shall expire after the 2012 Idaho Republican Caucus is completed.