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North Dakota Republican Party presidential nominating caucuses and convention, 2020
2020 presidential election  |
Democratic caucus: March 10, 2020 |
Republican convention: Canceled[1] |
Electoral College: Three votes |
This page details the North Dakota Republican Party's presidential nominating process in 2020. Summary information on the 2016 process is provided for comparison and context. This article is current as of March 10, 2020.
Nominating process in the 2016 election cycle
In the 2016 presidential election cycle, Rule No. 16 of the Rules of the Republican National Committee required that the results of all primaries and caucuses be binding on a state's delegation to the national nominating convention. In previous election cycles, the North Dakota Republican Party had conducted a straw poll in the spring of the election year. The results of that straw poll were non-binding and, therefore, non-compliant with RNC rules. Consequently, the state party opted to forgo the straw poll, leaving the state convention as the deciding event in its presidential nominating process.[2][3]
Kelly Armstrong, then-chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party, said, "I think it's important to note that our delegates have never been bound and our rules are staying the same as they've always been. It's only through a change in RNC rules that we got into this position. It really was a timing issue. We simply didn't have enough time to develop caucus rules." Armstrong indicated the party would establish rules for binding caucuses in future presidential election cycles.[2]
Nominating process in the 2020 election cycle
What follows is a step-by-step description of the events in the North Dakota Republican Party's presidential nominating process in 2020:
- Caucuses (March 10, 2020: delegate allocation based on caucus results)
- State convention (canceled in light of the coronavirus outbreak; mail voting conducted to elect national convention delegates)
- Republican National Convention (August 24-27, 2020)
Caucuses
North Dakota's Republican Party presidential caucuses took place on March 10, 2020. Caucuses ran from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central. In order to participate, a voter had to be a U.S. citizen aged 18 years or older. The voter was required to have resided in North Dakota for at least 30 days prior to the caucuses. The voter was also required to sign a statement confirming his or her affiliation with the Republican Party and his or her intention to continue that affiliation in the general election. Voters registered at the caucus sites and received printed caucus ballots. At the conclusion of the caucuses, votes were tallied by hand on-site and then reported to state party headquarters, which in turn reported the results to the media and the public.[4]
President Donald Trump was the only candidate on the caucus ballot in North Dakota. The results of the caucuses were set to bind the state's delegation to the Republican National Convention.[4][5]
Caucus sites
Caucuses took place at the following locations:[6]
- Bismarck: Ramada Inn, 1400 E. Interchange Ave.
- Fargo: Holiday Inn, 3803 13th Ave. S.
- Grand Forks: Ramada Inn, 1205 N. 43rd St.
- Minot: Grand Hotel, 1505 N. Broadway
- Underwood: Underwood City Hall, 88 Lincoln Ave.
- Devils Lake: City Plaza, 210 US-2
- Valley City: District 24 GOP Headquarters, 341 North Central Ave.
- Park River: Alexander House Restaurant, 903 Park St. W.
Delegate allocation from caucus results
Rule No. 21 of the party's State Endorsing Convention Rules mandated that delegates be awarded proportionally to any candidate receiving at least 20% of votes cast. Rule No. 21 established the following formula, summarized below, for determining delegate allocation:[7]
- For illustrative purposes, assume there were five candidates who received the following vote shares:
- Candidate A: 30%
- Candidate B: 18%
- Candidate C: 21%
- Candidate D: 22%
- Candidate E: 9%
- For all candidates receiving at least 20% of votes cast, add together their vote shares. The resulting figure represents the aggregate vote share of all qualifying candidates.
- 30% (Candidate A) + 21% (Candidate C) + 22% (Candidate D) = 73%
- Next, divide each qualifying candidate's vote share by the aggregate vote share (i.e., 73%). The resulting figures are used as multipliers in the next step.
- Candidate A: 30% / 73%= 41%
- Candidate C: 21% / 73%= 29%
- Candidate D: 22% / 73%= 30%
- Apply the above multipliers to the state's total delegate count to determine delegate allocation. Standard rounding rules apply except in the case of the candidate with the greatest vote share: any fractional portion in his or her figure is rounded up to the next whole number.
- Candidate A: 41% * 29 = 11.89 = 12 delegates
- Candidate C: 29% * 29 = 8.41 = 8 delegates
- Candidate D: 30% * 29 = 8.7 = 9 delegates
State party rules stipulated that any candidate receiving at least 60% of all votes cast would be awarded all of the state's delegates.[7]
State convention
The 2020 North Dakota Republican Convention was originally scheduled for March 27 through March 28, 2020. In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the convention was canceled. In lieu of the convention, the party opted to elect delegates to the national nominating convention via mail voting on the part of registered state convention delegates.[8][9] The process was expected to be completed on or before April 18, 2020.[10]
See also
- Presidential election in North Dakota, 2020
- Republican presidential nomination, 2020
- Republican delegate rules, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Republican caucuses were held on March 10, 2020, with Donald Trump as the only candidate on the ballot. Delegates to the Republican National Convention were originally scheduled to be elected on March 28, 2020, at the state convention. However, the convention was canceled. Delegates will be chosen by mail-in ballot.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 CBS News, "Why North Dakota GOP voters don't vote in the presidential nomination process," April 1, 2016
- ↑ Republican National Committee, "Rules of the Republican National Committee, 2016," accessed February 18, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jerrick Adams, "Email communication with Shane Goettle, North Dakota GOP National Committeeman," February 20, 2020
- ↑ The Bismarck Tribune, "2020 vision: Political dates in North Dakota the next year," January 21, 2020
- ↑ North Dakota Republican Party, "North Dakota 2020 Presidential Caucus," accessed February 28, 2020
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 North Dakota Republican Party, "State Endorsing Convention Rules," accessed February 17, 2020
- ↑ North Dakota Republican Party, "2020 North Dakota Republican Convention," accessed February 17, 2020
- ↑ North Dakota Republican Party, "2020 NDGOP State Convention," accessed March 30, 2020
- ↑ Jerrick Adams, "Email communication with Shane Goettle, North Dakota GOP National Committeeman," March 30, 2020
