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Republican delegate rules by state, 2016

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2016 Republican National Convention
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Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • Delegate rules by state • State election law and delegates • Correll v. Herring • Delegates by state
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Alongside the rules created by the Republican National Committee and the Republican National Convention Rules Committee, individual state Republican parties—and, in some cases, the states themselves—also had rules and guidelines for delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention. In fact, state-level regulations generally determined how delegates were elected, whether or not delegates were bound to specific candidates, and under what circumstances a delegate was to remain bound to a candidate.

This page provides a list of known rules and guidelines for delegates from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the five U.S. territories up to July 2016. It also features a map and table that lay out the binding rules for delegates in each state and Washington, D.C., according to state party regulations and state election laws.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Selecting delegates: The selection of delegates varied from state to state in 2016. In some states, such as Alabama, delegates were elected directly by voters in the state’s primary election. In other states, such as Minnesota, delegates were elected or selected at district and state conventions. Some states like Hawaii and Louisiana allowed presidential campaigns to play a direct role in the selection of delegates by letting them submit lists of preferred delegates or form committees to select delegates.
  • Binding delegates: In most states, national party rules required delegates to be “bound” to support the candidate to whom they were allocated at the national convention. Some delegates, such as those from Massachusetts and Virginia, were only bound to support their candidate through the first round of voting. Delegates from other states were bound to support their candidate through the second and third rounds of voting. A few states, such as New Mexico and Mississippi, had party rules or state laws governing what would have happened if a delegate voted for a candidate other than the one to whom they were bound.
  • Releasing delegates: Many states with party rules or laws that bound delegates to candidates also had mechanisms to release them from their candidate. In Connecticut, for example, a candidate could release his or her delegates by submitting a signed letter to that effect to the state party. Several state parties had rules that automatically released delegates if a candidate withdrew from the race. In Michigan and Nevada, delegates were automatically released if a candidate suspended his or her campaign.

    • State binding rules

    In most states, 2016 Republican state party rules or state election laws required delegates to vote at the Republican National Convention for the candidate to whom they were allocated or pledged themselves at the time of their election. However, the number of ballots a delegate was bound to vote for his or her candidate varied from state to state. In a majority of states, for example, the delegates were bound only on the first ballot. If no candidate had secured the nomination on the first ballot and additional rounds of balloting had taken place, these delegates could have become free agents and voted for whichever candidate they wished. In other states, delegates could potentially have been bound for two, three, four, or even all ballots.

    The table below shows the maximum number of ballots for which delegates in each state and Washington, D.C., were bound, according to state party rules and state election laws as of July 2016.

    State delegate rules

    Washington, D.C., and the territories

    *Ballotpedia was unable to find an official set of guidelines for Republican delegates from this U.S. territory.

    See also

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    2016 Conventions
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    Republican Party
    Democratic Party
    Presidential election
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