Friday, April 8, 2016

Trump Two Days Late for WA Delegate Selection


Donald Trump’s team is encouraging its supporters in Washington state to sign up to be a potential Trump delegate. The only problem, the campaign's local crew sent its email today, two days after the filing deadline to appear on the printed ballot in Saturday's Conventions and Caucuses.

The email, headlined "invitation," encouraged supporters to submit their Declaration of Candidacy for Delegate form. But the very next sentence says the filing deadline was Wednesday.

“You can still be elected as a Trump Delegate at your GOP County Convention this Saturday!” the April 8 email says. “If you have submitted a Declaration of Candidacy for Delegate form to your GOP County Chairman by the assigned deadline of 10:00am on April 6th."

While it appears the Trump campaign dropped the ball on the deadline to appear on the printed ballot, the billionaire's supporters can still try their hand at being nominated from the floor.

According to Caleb Heimlich, Executive Director of the Washington State Republican Party, any convention or caucus, the counties are hosting them on a rolling basis from March 12 to April 16, has a filing deadline 72 hours before the event in order to appear on the ballot. “It is too late to be on the printed ballot for the ones this Saturday," Heimlich said.

Washington's Republican Party has a complex, three-part process to ultimately elect the 44 delegates who will represent the State at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July.

The first step took place on Feb. 20, when any Republican who wanted to participate attended a Precinct Caucus where they elect delegates to the County Convention. Then, between March 12 and April 16, counties hold Conventions and Caucuses where the delegates in attendance elect 1,500 delegates, plus 124 automatic delegates, to represent them at the State Convention, which will take place between May 19 and May 21. Finally, that group picks 41 National Convention delegates, the last three are automatics from the State Party.

On May 24, voters in the State will vote in the Presidential Primary, and the National Convention delegates will be bound proportionally based on the results of that contest on the first ballot at the Convention.

A representative from the Trump campaign’s Washington headquarters said he was not authorized to talk to press and an email to the Trump campaign requesting clarification was not immediately answered.

Trump recently expanded the duties of his delegate-focused adviser, Paul Manafort, who was hired in late March to help corral delegates ahead of what is increasingly likely to be a Contested Convention in July.











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