Bylaws › SECTION VI
SELECTION OF NATIONAL CONVENTION DELEGATES
1. This bylaw’s section is adopted pursuant to a Resolution of the South Dakota Republican Convention, dated July 13, 1974.
2. All delegates and alternates to which South Dakota may be entitled under the National Convention membership formula shall be elected at large.
3. Convention delegates and alternates shall be elected from slates of delegates on the primary election ballot. Each slate shall be designated as uncommitted or committed to a named presidential candidate. Each slate must designate each member as seeking delegate or alternate positions.
4. Any slate of delegates receiving at least 20% of the popular vote in the primary election shall be deemed to have received a significant number of votes indicating candidate support, and each slate shall be entitled to the number of delegates and alternates its augmented proportion of the vote (hereinafter defined in paragraph 6) shall bear to the total number of delegates to be elected.
5. In the event any given slate receives less than 20% of the vote, each such slate shall be deemed not to have received sufficient votes to indicate significant support and shall not be entitled to any delegates. In the event no slate receives at least 20% of the vote, the Republican State Executive Board shall name the full delegation by dividing the allotted positions among the top four vote gathering slates on a proportional basis.
6. The apportionment of delegates among the various slates entitled to representation (as set down in paragraph 4) shall be accomplished by taking the total vote of all such slates entitled to representation as the denominator and the specific vote total of each such slate entitled to representation as the numerator, and multiplying this figure with the total number of delegates to be allocated. A like number of alternates shall be assigned to each slate.
7. In the event of fractional shares the first delegate position shall be awarded to the slate with the larger popular vote. The second delegate position (if any) shall be awarded to the slate with the second largest popular vote, and so forth. In the case of a tie in popular vote the delegate position shall be decided by the toss of a coin.
8. Delegates shall be deemed to have been elected in order. In the event that a slate shall be entitled to some number of delegates less than its full list, the first name of the list shall be chosen, and the remainder of the delegates to which the slate is entitled shall be taken from the list of names consecutively and in the order in which the names appear on the petition as originally presented to the Secretary of State. Alternates shall be designated in a like manner.
9. The Republican county chairmen shall cause to be held at 8:00 p.m. at the county seat a special National Convention Delegate Selection meeting on the first Thursday of March in the year for which a national Convention of the Republican Party is to be held for the purpose of nominating a candidate for President and Vice President. Such county meeting shall be open to all registered Republicans residing in the county; public notice, including publication in the official county newspaper, of such a meeting must be given at least 15 days in advance, and all appropriate means of providing notice of such meeting shall be used. It shall be the responsibility of the Republican county chairman to notify the Secretary of the Republican State Central Committee at least 15 days prior to the meeting. If the County GOP organization fails to hold the required County National Convention Delegate Selection meeting, the State Republican Chairman may authorize some other method of selecting state caucus delegates from that county subject to the approval of the Executive Board of the Republican State Central Committee.
10. At the County National Delegate Selection meeting the county chairman shall, after conducting any general business he deems appropriate, cause to be held individual caucuses to be attended by those supporting the various candidates for president wishing to have a slate entered in their behalf or a caucus of those wishing to form an uncommitted slate. Such caucuses shall be presided over by an individual designated by the candidate’s statewide chairman provided such designation is made in writing to the county GOP chairman at least five days before the meeting. In the absence of such designation the county GOP chairman may designate a method of selecting caucus chairmen.
11. Each such caucus may elect up to three persons, except Minnehaha County which may elect up to six persons, to attend a State National Convention Delegation Selection meeting to be held prior to the second to last Saturday in March following the County National Delegate Selection meetings. At the County caucus each registered Republican in attendance may cast up to three votes for persons to be delegates to the State National Convention Delegate Selection meeting provided that not more than one vote may be cast for any one person. Call to the state meeting shall be in writing to the delegates selected at the county meetings.
The reading of such a call at the County National Convention Delegate Selection meetings shall be deemed sufficient notice. The County GOP chairman shall, within 48 hours of the completion of the county meeting, certify to the Secretary of the Republican State Central Committee a complete list of all delegates selected for the state meetings including their names, full addresses, and the candidate to whom they are pledged.
12. At the State National Convention Delegate Selection meeting the State Republican Chairman shall, after conducting any general business he may deem appropriate, cause to be held individual caucuses for each candidate or uncommitted slate wishing to be represented for the purpose of electing an appropriate number of delegates and alternates to the National Convention to appear on the ballot in support of a said candidate or as an uncommitted slate. An individual designated by the candidate’s statewide chairman shall preside over each caucus. In the absence of such designation the State Republican Chairman may designate a method for selecting a caucus chairman. Each caucus shall be attended by the delegates elected in the county caucuses and pledged to that presidential candidate.
13. Delegates at the individual state caucuses shall cast a number of votes equal to the vote received by the Republican candidate for Governor in the last general election in their respective county. The delegates from each county shall divide said vote equally among themselves. In the event that not all delegates are present and voting, the delegate(s) who is/are present shall be entitled to cast the entire vote of that county.
14. The State Chairman of any presidential candidate’s campaign seeking to offer a slate of delegates and alternates shall be entitled to the first position on the slate of delegates without being required to submit himself to the election process at the state caucus and without having to be an elected caucus delegate from his county. (Note: The title “State Chairman of a presidential candidate’s campaign” as used herein includes other titles that might be used such as, but not limited to, State Executive Director, State Campaign Director, Honorary State Chairman, etc. The recognition of the individual by name, entitled to the first position on the slate of delegates, shall be determined by each presidential campaign and submitted as outlined in paragraph 17, this section, below.) Selection of delegates for the slates shall be on a single ballot for each slate with position determined by the number of votes received by each individual. A like ballot shall be held for alternate positions.
At the State National Delegate Selection meeting the selection of delegates and alternates shall be accomplished by a slated proportional voting procedure. Each participant at the Regional or State caucus for a specific candidate or uncommitted slate shall be allocated the appropriate number of votes as defined in paragraph 13. Additionally, each participant will distribute their apportioned number of votes by allocating a percentage of their vote using the following method: A sum of the number of ballot positions that may be won at that particular caucus election shall serve as the denominator. The ballot position numbers in descending order shall serve as the numerators. Divide the numerator by the denominator for each ballot position to determine the percentage of the participant’s vote that will be allocated to any person seeking election as a delegate or alternate. The delegate or alternate with the highest number of votes will be slated in position one. The delegate or alternate with the second highest number of votes will be slated in position two and so on. An example of the slated proportional voting procedure is attached for explanation and is a part of this election procedure.
15. County delegates of each presidential candidate or uncommitted slate will conduct separate regional caucuses. The six regions: 1) Minnehaha, 2) Davison, Douglas, Hutchinson, Turner, Lincoln, Bon Homme, Yankton, Clay and Union 3) Aurora, Grant, Clark, Codington, Hamlin, Deuel, Kingsbury, Brookings, Sanborn, Miner, Moody, Lake, Hanson and McCook, 4) Jerauld, Roberts, Marshall, Day, Brown, Spink, Beadle, Hand, Hyde, Faulk, Edmunds, McPherson, Potter and Walworth, 5) Butte, Harding, Perkins Corson, Ziebach, Dewey, Sully, Hughes, Haakon, Stanley, Jackson, Jones, Lyman, 13) Mellette, Shannon, Bennett, Todd, Tripp, Gregory, Campbell, Buffalo, Brule and Charles Mix, 6) Custer, Fall River, Lawrence, Meade and Pennington.
At the regional caucus, county delegates must determine whether they intend to run as a delegate or as an alternate for the Statewide National Convention Delegate Selection caucus process in order to be nominated and/or elected as a delegate or alternate for a presidential candidate or uncommitted slate. At each regional caucus for each presidential candidate or uncommitted slate, county delegates will elect four delegates and four alternates from each region with the exception of Regions 1 and 6. Region 1 will elect five delegates and one alternate and Region 6 will elect five delegates and five alternates. The regional caucuses will precede the State National Convention Delegate Selection meeting.
Delegates from each county will vote throughout the entire process according to paragraphs 13 and 14.
16. Slates of delegates and alternates must be chosen among those elected as caucus delegates for the state caucus except for the State Chairman of the Presidential campaign who may serve in the first delegate position pursuant to paragraph 14 above.
17. A. It shall be the duty of each caucus chairman to certify in writing to the Secretary of the Republican Party within seven days of close of the statewide caucus a list including the full names and full addresses of each delegate and alternate. This list shall be submitted in order of election and appearance on the primary ballot.
B. All delegates and alternates elected at the statewide caucus shall subscribe to an oath of affirmation that they shall support the candidate to whom they are pledged for one ballot at the National Convention unless the candidate withdraws, or they are released or the candidate becomes disqualified before the first ballot. This oath of affirmation shall be sent to the Secretary of the Republican Party within seven days of such delegate selection.
C. Following the State National Convention Delegate Selection meeting it shall be the duty of the Republican State Chairman to certify to the Secretary of State that all delegates and alternates named on the chosen slates were arrived at in keeping with the bylaws of the Republican State Central Committee, and this certification shall be made in a timely manner to meet the requirements of state law for the inclusion of such delegates and alternates in the primary election where the citizens of South Dakota may cast their votes. The South Dakota Republican State Central Committee recommends that this filing include the name of the candidate’s chosen state chairman, as defined in paragraph 14, this section above.
D. The Secretary of State shall accept no certification of a slate of delegates and alternates for any candidate who has not filed his intention to be a candidate in the South Dakota presidential primary in accordance with state law.
18. The Secretary of State shall not accept any certification in behalf of a candidate containing the names of delegates and alternates pledged to a Republican candidate for President of the United States nor accept such certification containing the names of uncommitted delegates unless it is accompanied by a certificate from the Republican State Chairman indicating that such slates were selected in accordance with the bylaws of the Republican State Central Committee.
19. If any vacancy exists in the South Dakota delegation to the National Convention after delegates and alternates are apportioned based on the primary election, the Executive Board of the South Dakota Republican Party may fill candidate and uncommitted vacancies with individuals committing to that slate to serve as a delegate or alternate with the same authority and restrictions as delegates and alternates in the delegation elected at the National Convention Delegate Selection meeting.
The use of this section shall not result in regional representation of delegates and alternates more than the number allowed in Section 15 of these bylaws.
EXAMPLE S
Statewide Caucus:
numerator/denominator Ballot Position Percentage of vote to allocate
21/23 1 9.1%
1 20/231 2 8.7%
19/231 3 8.2%
18/231 4 7.8%
17/231 5 7.3%
16/231 6 6.9%
15/231 7 6.5%
14/231 8 6.1%
13/231 9 5.6%
12/231 10 5.2%
11/231 11 4.8%
10/231 12 4.8%
9/231 13 3.9%
8/231 14 3.5%
7/231 15 3.0%
6/231 16 2.6%
5/231 17 2.2%
4/231 18 1.7%
3/231 19 1.3%
2/231 20 0.9%
1/231 21 0.4%
100%
231 (Sum of the numer of ballot positions)
Regional Caucus (regions 2, 3, 4, 5):
numerator/denominator Ballot Position Percentage of vote to allocate
4/10 1 40%
3/10 2 30%
2/10 3 20%
1/10 4 10%
100%
10 (Sum of the number of ballot positions)
Regional Caucus (Regions 1 & 6):
numerator/denominator Ballot Position Percentage of vote to allocate
5/15 1 33.3%
4/15 2 26.7%
3/15 3 20.0%
2/15 4 13.3%
1/15 5 6.7%
100%
15 (Sum of the number of ballot positions)