As in Mn, the primary is a straw poll. The election of delegates is what counts.
I don’t make the rules, but this is how the GOP set up things to play out.
From the LA GOP web site.
Republican Party of Louisiana Chairman Roger Villere Congratulates Rick Santorum on Finishing First in the Louisiana Republican Primary
Rick Santorum had a strong first place finish with 49.07 percent of the vote in the Louisiana Republican Primary according to the unofficial election results released by the Louisiana Secretary of State. Mitt Romney followed in 2nd place with 26.62 percent. Newt Gingrich came in third with 15.92 percent of the vote. Ron Paul finished in fourth place with 6.15 percent.
“Congratulations to Rick Santorum on his victory,” said Republican Party of Louisiana Chairman Roger F. Villere Jr. “The results show Rick Santorum’s conservative message strongly resonated with Louisiana Republican voters. Louisiana Republicans clearly want a conservative alternative to Barack Obama.”
Louisiana was thrust into the national spotlight this week as the Louisiana Republican Primary became a key contest in the hotly contested Republican Presidential race. Over the past two weeks, all four presidential candidates made multiple campaign stops throughout the state of Louisiana.
“The eyes of Republicans all over America are on Louisiana tonight,” Villere said. “Thank you to all the Republican candidates for personally reaching out to Louisiana voters and doing the hard work to make Barack Obama a one-term president.”
In accordance with the rules of the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Louisiana, tonight’s primary winners competed for 20 of Louisiana’s at-large delegates proportionally based on the outcome. Candidates must have received a minimum of 25 percent of the primary vote in order to be allocated delegates.
Based upon the unofficial election results from the Secretary of State, Rick Santorum has won 10 delegates with 49.07% of the vote. Mitt Romney came in second with 5 delegates with 26.62% of the vote. Both Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul did not meet the threshold of 25% of voters required in order to garner delegates. As a result, neither Gingrich or Paul will be allocated delegates and five of the twenty delegates will go uncommitted to the National Convention.
Louisiana will send a total of 46 delegates and 43 alternates to the Republican National Convention. Delegates will be elected at the 2012 Louisiana Republican Convention in Shreveport in June. State convention delegates will be elected at district caucuses which will be held on April 28 in 30 locations across Louisiana.
In today’s Republican Primary, 186,377 Louisiana Republicans cast their vote. In the 2008 Preference Primary, 161,169 Republicans participated.
Where do you get that it is a straw poll.