Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.
Colorado will not pick a Republican candidate for President in its 2016 Caucus after party leaders approved a little-noticed shift that is likely to diminish the swing state's clout in the most open nomination contest in the modern era.
The GOP Executive Committee voted Friday to cancel the traditional Presidential Preference poll at the caucus after the Republican National Party (RNC) changed its rules to require a state's delegates to support the candidate that wins.
The move makes Colorado the only state so far to forfeit a role in the early nomination process, according to experts, but other states are still considering what to do. "It takes Colorado completely off the map" in the nomination process, said Ryan Call, a former state GOP chairman.
The Colorado system often favors non-establishment candidates who attract a dedicated following among activists, as evidenced by Rick Santorum's caucus victory in 2012. So the party's move may hurt GOP contenders such as Donald Trump, Ben Carson or Rand Paul, who would have received a boost if they won the state.
State Republican Party Chairman Steve House said the party's 24-member-executive committee made a unanimous decision, six members were absent, to skip the preference poll. He said the move would give Colorado delegates the freedom to support any candidate eligible at the Cleveland convention in July, 2016. Republican National Committee officials said the change complies with strict party rules.
In 2008 and 2012, die-hard Republican voters gathered at precinct caucus meetings to begin the process of selecting delegates to the national convention and voice support for presidential candidates in a straw poll. The vote, however, didn't require Colorado delegates to support any particular candidate at the national convention. This allowed for delegates that supported a losing candidate to vote for the nominee and demonstrate party unity at the convention.
But the freedom also opened the door for political mischief, as Colorado saw in 2012 when Ron Paul supporters managed to win a significant portion of the delegate slots to the national convention, even though Paul finished far behind in the Colorado caucuses.
The RNC tightened the rules in 2012 to eliminate nonbinding straw polls and help prevent similar stunts in the future, forcing Colorado Republicans to re-evaluate their process. An effort earlier this year to create a presidential primary failed amid party infighting.
The GOP still will hold precinct caucus meetings in early 2016 to begin the process of selecting delegates to the national convention. The party will meet next month to pick the caucus date, which state law requires in February or March.
The Democratic Party will still hold a presidential straw poll on March 1, a Super Tuesday vote that made the state an attractive campaign stop for top-tier candidates in recent months.
But on the Republican side, the caucus process will lack the hype that comes with a straw poll vote. The Presidential campaigns may still try to win delegate slots for their supporters, but experts say the candidates are less likely to visit the state and personally court voters.
Other caucus states are grappling with the rule change in different ways as they finalize their plans ahead of the deadline at the end of September.
With the change, the only way Colorado Republican delegates would remain relevant is the remote chance that no candidate emerges as the primary winner. In this case, the state's unbound delegates could hold the key to victory in a floor fight or brokered convention.
"If there's the potential for a brokered convention in any way, the unaffiliated delegates become extremely important," said Joy Hoffman, the Arapahoe County GOP chairwoman who attended the party meeting. "If there is someone who becomes a front-runner ... then nobody's important. So I think the view became that if we were not bound, it's not the worse thing that could happen."
Winger write: "Of course various individuals chosen for the National Convention will have their own preferences, but all delegates will be completely free to vote for anyone they wish at the July convention itself."
But some experts say: "The move makes Colorado the only state so far to forfeit a role in the early nomination process".
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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