2016 Republican Delegate Allocation: WYOMING/ 66% less voted than 2012!

This is #16 in a series that examines the Republican delegate allocation rules by state. The main goal is to assess the rules for 2016 -- relative to 2012 -- in order to gauge the potential impact the changes to the rules along the W-T-A/proportionality spectrum... The RNC recalibrated its rules, cutting the proportionality window in half, but tightening proportionality rules.

Those alterations will trigger subtle reactions, other rules changes, particularly the new binding requirement, will be more noticeable....

...Changes since 2012: As FHQ argued at the outset of the... plan to allocate delegates for 2016, there are only so many ways to allocate a small number of delegates. That is probably less an issue of the total number of delegates than it is a function of a lack of congressional districts to divide up the allocation....With the state being its own congressional district -- like in Vermont -- there are few alternatives to pooling delegates and allocating them in a manner consistent with the national party guidelines (proportionally for contest before March 15).......Wyoming Republicans, however, have chosen one of those alternative.........

....That process carried over from previous cycles to 2016, but the most marked difference in Wyoming for 2016 is the nixing of the straw poll vote at the precinct caucus level. Yes, that theoretically allows the party to maintain an unbound delegation, but the true intent behind the removal of the preference vote was to both stay compliant with the RNC rules and maintain the bulk of the traditional delegate selection process in the Equality state....

The Bottom line is that a much smaller number are now choosing representatives blindly without a straw poll to select future delegates. The Bottom line is that .03% of the voters will select the POTUS nominee. This is 66% less than voted in 2012.

The Wyoming Republican Party delegate selection plan is more like Colorado’s than anything else. Registered Republicans, with lots of time and means are able to follow each step of the lengthy process. They are more likely to be activists within the state party than ordinary republicans interested in the presidential race. That has an impact on turnout and eventually the outcome of the delegate selection process. This grants the state party much more control over the selection process. Republicans are being represented by committeemen at the local precinct level. Blindly, you have chosen someone, you have no certainty as to how they may select a delegate who will then vote on your behalf to nominate a candidate.

By doing away with the early straw poll, the election is now blind. Later, Wyoming delegates will eventually be bound to the presidential candidate to whom they have pledged heading into the conventions where those delegates are chosen.

By having only an approved committee vote for the delegates, the party is ensured their choice wins.

Note: Another state that has changed their rules to exclude a lot of voters: The last polling (summer) in Wyoming had Jeb Bush in the lead. Bush=Cheney= Wyoming! ... Wyoming party officials realize they could have lost (perhaps they did) 2012 to Rick Santorum. For 2016, they tightened the party reins and were able to cut out lots of pesky voters, about 2/3 of them.

2012 Primary Election results with 270,000 Wyoming Republicans

Mitt Romney.........822.......38.99%.... 11

Rick Santorum......679.......31.93%...... 8

Ron Paul...............439.......20.83%...... 6

Newt Gingrich.......165.........7.83%...... 2

Others.....................9..........0.43%...... 0

2016 Caucus with 272,000 Registered republican voters .03 % of voters choose the President

980 Committeemen choose the delegates. 66% less than the 2012 Primary election

Committeemen Delegate Vote to date: 34% Cruz, 4% Rubio, 4% Trump The rest to be determined

I remember way back when, when I would not choose a party affiliation when I registered to vote. People would ask me why I would give up my chance to influence an election early on, since I would not be voting in a primary.

Clearly, in certain states, it absolutely does not make a difference. Even registered Republicans are not getting the chance to have a say in the primaries. People might as well not choose a party affiliation, because they do not get any input into the process.

From the GreenPapers WY page, rules:

“State Party by-laws require that each delegate must inform the convention of which presidential candidate, if any, they would cast their vote for at the national convention. [Bylaws of the Wyoming Republican Party Article VI.8.11]”

Thursday 14 April - Saturday 16 April 2016: The Wyoming State Republican Convention convenes in Cheyenne. On Saturday 16 April, the State Convention chooses the remaining 17 of Wyoming’s delegates to the Republican National Convention

These committeemen and women are for the most part, party loyalists, who select themselves, family, and friends as delegates. With a state of 270,000 voters, one would think that they could have a regular election with at least a 10% turnout. .03% representation is unacceptable.

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