RNC delegate guidelines from Mississippi, 2016

• 2020 Candidates
  • Timeline of presidential announcements
• 2016 Pres. Election
  • Candidates
    • General election candidates
      • Republicans
        • Donald Trump
      • Democrats
        • Hillary Clinton
      • Third Party
        • Gary Johnson
        • Jill Stein
    • 2016 vice presidential candidates
      • Possible vice presidential picks
    • Withdrawn candidates
      • Democrats
        • Lincoln Chafee
        • Lawrence Lessig
        • Martin O'Malley
        • Bernie Sanders
        • Jim Webb
      • Republicans
        • Jeb Bush
        • Ben Carson
        • Chris Christie
        • Ted Cruz
        • Carly Fiorina
        • Jim Gilmore
        • Lindsey Graham
        • Mike Huckabee
        • Bobby Jindal
        • John Kasich
        • George Pataki
        • Rand Paul
        • Rick Perry
        • Marco Rubio
        • Rick Santorum
        • Scott Walker
    • POTUS
      • Barack Obama
      • Former presidents
        • George W. Bush
        • Bill Clinton
        • George H.W. Bush
        • Ronald Reagan
        • Jimmy Carter
  • Presidential debates (2015-2016)
  • Ballot access for presidential candidates
  • Important campaign dates
  • Delegate rules
  • Polling
  • Presidential campaign fundraising, 2008-2016
  • Ratings and scorecards
  • Straw polling
  • Democratic National Convention, 2016
  • Republican National Convention, 2016
• Analysis
  • Media narratives
    • The media's coverage of Donald Trump
    • The media's coverage of Hillary Clinton
  • Post-debate analysis
    • Democrats
      • April 14, 2016 (CNN)
      • March 9, 2016 (Univision)
      • March 6, 2016 (CNN)
      • February 11, 2016 (PBS)
      • February 4, 2016 (MSNBC)
      • January 17, 2016 (NBC)
      • December 19, 2015 (ABC)
      • November 14, 2015 (CBS)
      • October 13, 2015 (CNN)
    • Republicans
      • March 10, 2016 (CNN)
      • March 3, 2016 (FNC)
      • February 25, 2016 (CNN)
      • February 13, 2016 (CBS)
      • February 6, 2016 (ABC)
      • January 28, 2016 (FNC)
      • January 14, 2016 (FBN)
      • December 15, 2015 (CNN)
      • November 10, 2015 (FBN)
      • October 28, 2015 (CNBC)
      • September 16, 2015 (CNN)
  • Insiders Polls
    • Full Insiders coverage
    • September: Democratic control of the White House
    • September: Democratic control of Congress
    • January: Democratic
    • January: Republican
    • December: Democratic
    • December: Republican
    • Insiders Poll: First Democratic debate (October 13, 2015)
    • September: Democratic
    • September: Republican
    • Insiders Poll: Winners and losers from the Fox News Republican Debate
  • Post-debate commentary
    • CNN Democratic debate: analysis and commentary
    • CNN Republican debate: analysis and commentary
    • Post-debate analysis: James A. Barnes, Karlyn Bowman and David Kusnet
• Issues
  • Domestic affairs
    • Current events
      • Black Lives Matter movement
      • DACA and DAPA
      • Defunding Planned Parenthood
      • Marriage equality
      • RFRA
      • Scalia and Supreme Court vacancy
      • U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland
      • Transgender restroom access
      • Zika virus
    • Abortion
    • Branches of government
    • Civil liberties
    • Climate change
    • Constitution
    • Crime and justice
    • Education
    • Energy and environmental policy
    • Epidemic control
    • Federal assistance programs
    • Gun control
    • Healthcare
    • Immigration
    • Infrastructure
    • LGBTQ rights
    • Marijuana
    • Puerto Rico
    • Rural policy
    • Stop-and-frisk policing
    • Urban policy
  • Economic affairs and government regulations
    • Agriculture and food policy
    • Budgets
    • Government regulations
    • Labor and employment
    • Trade
    • Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal
    • Taxes
    • Wall Street and banking policy
  • Foreign affairs and national security
    • Cuba
    • Foreign affairs
    • Iran nuclear deal
    • ISIS and terrorism
    • Military and veterans
    • National security
    • North Korea
    • Russia
    • Syrian refugees
    • Technology, privacy, and cybersecurity
  • Political savvy
    • Political and leadership attributes
    • Campaign preparations
• Power Players
  • Super PACs
  • Presidential campaign key staff and advisors
  • Staff changes
• Polls
  • BP battleground poll
  • Polls
• Conventions & delegates
  • Delegates
  • Republican National Convention, 2016
    • Republican delegates by state, 2016
    • Rule 40 and its impact on the 2016 Republican National Convention
    • Republican National Committee
  • Democratic National Convention, 2016
    • Democratic National Committee

2016 Republican National Convention

Date July 18-21, 2016 Location Cleveland, Ohio

Candidates President Donald Trump Vice President Mike Pence

Delegates

Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • Delegate rules by state • State election law and delegates • Correll v. Herring • Delegates by state

Convention 2016 Convention Rules • Rule 12 • Rule 16 • Rule 40 • Conscience clause • Brokered conventions • RNC Rules Committee • Platform and Platform Committee • RNC Standing Committee on Rules • Republican National Committee

Previous party rules 2012 • 2000 • 1996

Ballotpedia's presidential election coverage 2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016

Have you subscribed yet? Join the hundreds of thousands of readers trusting Ballotpedia to keep them up to date with the latest political news. Sign up for the Daily Brew. Click here to learn more.

This page provides known guidelines for Republican delegates representing Mississippi at the 2016 National Republican Convention, as compiled from a Mississippi GOP document titled "Resolution of the State Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party," which dates to September 14, 2015. The full text of relevant regulations is reproduced below.

HIGHLIGHTS

Mississippi sent 40 delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention, including 12 congressional district delegates, 25 at-large delegates, and three Republican National Committee delegates. All Mississippi delegates were allocated on a proportional basis.

Delegates from Mississippi to the national convention were elected at district caucuses and the state convention. Mississippi GOP bylaws required delegates to submit a written declaration stating "which candidate that person will be bound to support on the floor of the Republican National Convention."

Mississippi GOP bylaws in 2016 stipulated that delegates were to be bound to the candidate to whom they were allocated "until released by said candidate publicly or in writing."

Resolution of the State Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party

The text below has been reproduced verbatim from: Resolution of the State Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party

WHEREAS, the Mississippi Republican Party is a political party existing pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the State of Mississippi and is the official organization of the Republican electors of Mississippi pursuant to State law; and

WHEREAS, the Mississippi Republican Party is the official organization of the Republican Party of the United States within the State of Mississippi, pursuant to the Call of the Republican National Committee; and

WHEREAS, the quadrennial National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States will be held pursuant to Call and notice in Cleveland, Ohio, the week of July 18, 2016, nomination of the Republican candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States and for such other purposes as may be proper pursuant to said Call; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to Miss. Code 1972 Ann. 23-15-1081, et seq. (Supp. 1986) of the laws of the State of Mississippi, provision is made for a preferential primary election for the office of President of the United States to be held within the State of Mississippi whereby the Republican electors of Mississippi can vote for the select delegates to be bound to candidates for the republican nomination for President of the United States; and

WHEREAS, this Resolution is adopted pursuant to the Call and notice of the Republican National Committee, and pursuant to the Rules of the Republican Party, and pursuant to the Rules of the Republican National Convention adopted and to be adopted; and also pursuant to the Call and notice of the Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party and the Rules of the Mississippi Republican Party State Convention to be adopted; and

WHEREAS, the quadrennial State Convention of the Mississippi Republican Party will be held pursuant to Call and notice in Jackson, Mississippi, in May of 2016, for the selection of delegates to the Republican National Convention and for such other purposes as may be proper pursuant to said Call to be adopted; and

WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Mississippi Republican Party to guarantee openness, fairness, and democracy in the nomination of Republican candidates for President of the United States;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the State Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party adopts the following Rules for the Republican Presidential Preferential Primary within Mississippi and the selection of delegates and alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention, which said Rules shall be a part of the Call to be adopted for the quadrennial Convention of the Mississippi Republican Party;

Rule One

Every registered and qualified elector within the State of Mississippi who desires to support the candidates of the Republican Party shall be eligible to vote in the Republican Presidential Preferential Primary. No party or election official shall apply, or attempt to apply, any manner of loyalty oath or attempt to require any affirmation of loyalty to the Republican Party for any stated period as a precondition to the right to vote in the Republican Presidential Preferential Primary.

Rule Two

The ballot for the Republican Presidential Preferential Primary in Mississippi shall contain the names of the candidates for the Republican nomination for President determined by the Mississippi Secretary of State according to law, and the voters shall be given the right to express a preference for one candidate only. The names of the candidates for Vice President shall not appear on the ballot, and the names of the candidates for delegates and alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention shall not appear on the ballot.

Rule Three

The vote in the Republican Presidential Preferential Primary shall be canvassed within each Congressional District. The three delegates and three alternates for each Congressional District shall be allocated proportionally based on the following: (1) any presidential candidate who receives the majority (50% + 1) of the Congressional District’s Presidential Preference Primary vote shall be allocated all three of the Congressional District delegates and alternates; (2) if no presidential candidate receives the majority (50% + 1) of the Congressional District’s Presidential Preference Primary vote, the presidential candidate receiving the highest number of the Congressional District’s Presidential Preference Primary votes shall be allocated two delegates and two alternates and the presidential candidate receiving the second highest number of the Congressional District’s Presidential Preference Primary votes shall be allocated one delegate and one alternate. Delegates and alternates representing each Congressional District shall be selected at the Congressional District caucus at the Republican State Convention pursuant to these rules. The persons to serve as delegates and alternates to the Republican National Convention are bound to vote for the candidate to whom they have been allocated through the first ballot.

Rule Four

The vote in the Republican Presidential Preferential Primary shall be canvassed within the State at-large, and each presidential candidate receiving fifteen (15) percent or more of the vote statewide shall be allocated a portion of the 24 At Large delegates and 24 At Large alternates accordingly based on their percentage of the vote total of said candidates who passed the 15% threshold. If no presidential candidate reaches the 15% threshold of the statewide vote, the threshold becomes 10% for a candidate to receive delegates and alternate delegates. All fractional proportions of a delegate/alternate shall be rounded to the nearest whole number. At Large Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the Republican National Convention shall be selected at the Republican State Convention pursuant to these Rules. The persons to serve as delegates and alternates to the Republican National Convention are bound to vote for the candidate to whom they have been allocated through the first ballot.

Rule Five

The members of the Republican National Committee shall not be bound to any Presidential candidate.

Rule Six

At least thirty (30) days in advance of the Republican State Convention, each candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States who may be entitled to the election of delegates to the Republican National Convention bound to him by the presidential preferential primary pursuant to these Rules shall designate in writing, directed to the State Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, the name and address of a Floor Representative who shall be entitled to the privileges of the floor of the Convention and of all meetings of Convention Committees. Each such Floor Representative may designate and appoint one deputy Floor Representative of each presidential candidate to attend each District Caucus to be held at the State Convention who shall be extended the privileges of the floor at the District.

Rule Seven

Each person who shall qualify as a candidate for election by the State Convention as delegate or alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention shall file with the Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party at least ten days prior to the day of the State Convention a written declaration of candidacy for delegate or alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention, and shall plainly and forthrightly state which candidate that person will be bound to support on the floor of the Republican National Convention pursuant to these Rules. No person not so qualifying shall be eligible to seek election as a delegate or alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention. The State Chairman shall immediately inform the Floor Representative of each presidential candidate of all such written declarations of candidacy. A declaration of candidacy for delegate, or for delegate and alternate delegate in the alternative, shall automatically qualify an unsuccessful candidate for delegate to seek election as alternate delegate.

Rule Eight

No person shall be qualified to seek election as delegate or alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention unless and until that person shall have made an affidavit upon oath under penalty of perjury, in a form to be provided by the State Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party in advance of the State Convention, that such person (a) has designated the candidate to whom such person will be bound pursuant to the Rules; (b) will, if elected, abide by these Rules in all things; (c) will, if elected, be bound to vote at the Republican National Convention for the candidate for the Republican Nomination as President of the United States designated by such person on all ballots until released by said candidate publicly or in writing; and (d) will execute and deliver such Waiver of Process, Entry of Appearance, Consent and Undertaking as may be necessary, in the opinion of the General Counsel of the Mississippi Republican Party, to make such oath and commitment fully binding and enforceable in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Rule Nine

Each delegate (and alternate delegate, if voting as a delegate) to the Republican National Convention allocated to the candidates pursuant to the Republican Presidential Preferential Primary and elected by the District Caucuses and the whole body of the Republican State Convention pursuant to the Rules shall be bound and constrained to the vote for the candidate designated by him or her prior to seeking election as delegate or alternate delegate pursuant to these Rules until released publicly or in writing by the presidential candidate to who he or she is bound. Any failure, attempt or threat to violate these Rules and fail to vote as designated, bound and constrained shall amount to irreparable harm so that any court of competent jurisdiction within Mississippi or at the venue of the Republican National Convention may, with or without notice, issue such temporary restraining orders or injunctive decrees, both mandatory and prohibitory, as may be necessary to enforce the Rules.

Rule Ten

Each person seeking election as a delegate or alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention may be required to execute and deliver, in a form required by the General Counsel of the Mississippi Republican Party, a Waiver of Process, Entry of Appearance and Consent to Personal Jurisdiction in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District in Hinds County, Mississippi, for the purposes of legal proceedings which may be necessary for enforcement of these Rules and the solemn commitment to be bound and constrained to vote as designated for the candidate to whom delegates and alternate delegates have been allocated by the Republican Presidential Preferential Primary pursuant to the Rules.

Rule Eleven

The Floor Representative or Deputy Floor Representative of each candidate for President may, upon the floor of the State Convention or at the District Caucus, speak for not more than two minutes in opposition to or in support of candidates for delegate or alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention who have designated the presidential candidate represented by that Floor Representative as the candidate to whom they are bound. However, such remarks by the Floor Representative shall be limited to the bona fides of the candidate for National Convention delegate or alternate delegate as a genuine supporter of the presidential candidate designated. The Floor Representative shall not advocate the election of one candidate for National Convention delegate or alternate delegate over another in his remarks. However, such advocacy may be done in nominating and seconding speeches if allowed by Convention Rules, but the Floor Representative shall not make or second such nominations.

Rule Twelve

The District Caucuses or the whole body of the Convention, as the case may be, shall place on the agenda and proceed to the business of the nomination and election of delegates to the National Convention before taking up the nomination and election of alternate delegates. Unsuccessful candidates for delegate shall be eligible to seek election as an alternate delegate. Alternate delegates shall replace delegates who are deceased, absent or disabled in alphabetical order drawn from the list of alternates committed to the same presidential candidate as the deceased, absent, or disabled delegate.

Rule Thirteen

These Rules shall not apply to questions before the Republican National Convention other than the balloting for the nomination of President of the United States.

Rule Fourteen

All rules and regulations of the Mississippi Republican Party in conflict with the provisions of this resolution are hereby repealed. This resolution and its provisions shall take effect and be in force from and after September 14, 2015.

See also

• Republican National Committee
• Republican National Convention rules, 2012
• Republican National Convention, 2016
• Types of delegates
• Presidential election in Mississippi, 2016