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Rule 12 and the 2016 Republican National Convention

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The Rules of the Republican Party were the subject of intense speculation and study throughout the 2016 presidential nominating season, as outside observers and Republican political operatives explored the various scenarios by which the rules might shape the outcome of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. While most focused their attention on rules such as Rule 16 and Rule 40(b), virtually no attention was given to a rule that generated controversy in 2012 and ended up doing so again in 2016: Rule 12.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Rule 12 is an official rule of the Rules of the Republican Party that allows the Republican National Committee (RNC) to amend the party's official rules in between national conventions. The adoption of Rule 12 in Tampa marked only the second time in the Republican Party’s modern history that it allowed for rules changes to take place in between conventions.
  • Rule 12 was backed by supporters of Mitt Romney, at the time the presumptive Republican nominee, who hoped to shorten the primary process, clarify the methods for binding and allocating delegates, and help the RNC gain more control over presidential primary debates.
  • On July 14, 2016, the convention Rules Committee rejected an amendment that would have removed Rule 12 from the official Rules of the Republican Party.

    • What is Rule 12?

    Rule 12 gives the Republican National Committee the power to amend certain rules of the Rules of the Republican Party. Specifically, it grants the RNC the power to amend rules 1-11 and 13-25. Excluded from these rules are Rule 12 itself and rules 26-42, which are the official convention rules.

    The amending process laid out by Rule 12 works as follows: the amendment is first to be considered by the RNC’s Standing Committee on Rules, which is required to pass the amendment by a majority vote (29 out of 56). Next, the RNC itself approves the amendment by a three-fourths vote of its entire membership (84 out of 112). The amendment, if approved, then goes into effect 30 days later. Rule 12 limits the amount of time that the RNC can amend the rules to a window that extends to two years after the close of the national convention.

    Rule 12 text as of 2012:

    The Republican National Committee may, by three-fourths (3/4) vote of its entire membership, amend Rule Nos. 1-11 and 13-25. Any such amendment shall be considered by the Republican National Committee only if it was passed by a majority vote of the Standing Committee on Rules after having been submitted in writing at least ten (10) days in advance of its consideration by the Republican National Committee and shall take effect thirty (30) days after adoption. No such amendment shall be adopted after September 30, 2014.[1]

    Passage in 2012

    Rule 12 was controversial from the time it was proposed. Backed by members of the RNC and supporters of then-2012 presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, Rule 12 was viewed by many national delegates and party activists as a “power grab” and as “centralization” because it granted the RNC unilateral authority to amend the Rules of the Republican Party, a right traditionally reserved for the delegates to the Republican’s quadrennial national conventions. Morton Blackwell, for example, an RNC national committeeman from Virginia who sat on the 2012 convention Rules Committee, wrote in the conservative website Red State that the point of Rule 12 was “to concentrate and centralize more power at the top of the party, and to shut off opportunities for power in the party to flow from the bottom up.”[2] Dean Clancy, the former vice president of FreedomWorks called Rule 12 one of the “Romney Rules,” implying that the rule was designed to help prevent a primary challenge to a possible president Romney in 2016, and said it will “effectively disenfranchise grassroots delegates, and will thus tend to weaken and splinter the party over time.”[3]

    Michael Shear, a journalist for The New York Times, described the passage of Rule 12 on the convention floor in Tampa as follows:[4]

    “ The House speaker, John A. Boehner, called for a vote on the rules on Tuesday afternoon after Mr. Romney’s advisers said they had reached a compromise with activists on Monday night. When Mr. Boehner called for the “ayes,” the crowd roared in the affirmative. But when he called for the “nays,” an even louder “no” echoed through the convention hall, led by supporters of Mr. Paul. Mr. Boehner ignored them, pressing ahead by saying the rules would be adopted “without objection,” even as the crowd continued to roar its disapproval. Mr. Boehner announced that the rules were approved and quickly moved on to the adoption of the party’s platform.[5] ”
    Why was Rule 12 so controversial? One reason is that the adoption of Rule 12 in Tampa represented only the second time in the Republican Party’s modern history that it allowed for rules changes to take place in between conventions. Historically, the convention rules committee, a 112-member body composed of national delegates that is formed every four year, alone has had the authority to make and amend the rules. Prior to the passage of Rule 12 in 2012, the first time that rule changes were permitted to take place between conventions happened in 2008 at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. There, the convention delegates amended Rule 10 to include a selection allowing for the creation of a temporary committee “to review the time of the election, selection, allocation, or binding of delegates and alternate delegates...” The temporary committee met in June 2010 and amended Rule 15, a rule that establishes the parameters for when Republican primaries and caucuses are allowed to take place. In the 2008 primary election, more than 20 states held primaries or caucuses on a single day—February 5—and ended up allocating 45 percent of the total delegates up for grabs in the 2008 cycle. The day’s events allowed U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona to wrap up the nomination before winter was even over, leaving many conservatives dissatisfied with the process. Some argued that the February 5 primaries functioned as a “national primary” and favored more well-funded and established candidates like McCain over other candidates like Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. The amendments to Rule 15 in 2010 made by the temporary committee had the effect of spacing out Republican primaries and caucuses, thereby preventing a single candidate from wrapping up the nomination on a single day.[6]

    How was Rule 12 used?

    See also: Rule 16 and its impact on the 2016 Republican National Convention

    Whereas the rules changes in 2010 sought to extend the Republican primary season, the changes ushered in by the adoption of Rule 12 in Tampa sought to shorten it. The changes were also intended to clarify the binding and allocation of delegates and help the RNC gain more control over primary debates involving Republican candidates for president.

    The Standing Committee on Rules and the RNC focused much of their energy on Rule 16, a rule (in the 2008 edition of the rules) focused on the timing of primaries and caucuses and the allocation and binding of delegates. The background for the changes to Rule 16 can be found in the 2012 national convention.

    Adoption at the 2012 Republican National Convention

    During the Republican primary process in 2012, Ron Paul's presidential campaign secured control over the delegate selection process in several states even though Paul did not win the popular vote in a single primary or caucus. To prevent this from happening in the future, the RNC proposed a change to Rule 15 that would have allowed presidential candidates the right to veto and replace delegates allocated to them.[7] RNC member James Bopp condemned the proposal, saying, "This is the biggest power grab in the history of the Republican Party because it shifts the power to select delegates from the state party to the candidate. And it would make the Republican Party a top-down, not bottom-up party."[8]

    Delegates from Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, and several other states vigorously opposed the rule change. The vice chair of the Republican Party of Texas, Melinda Fredricks, called it "an unacceptable infringement on our right to freely choose our delegates to the national convention."[9]

    A compromise was reached where the delegate veto would not be implemented. Rule 15, however, would be replaced with Rule 16—a new version of the delegate selection and allocation rule that would, in addition to other functions, void votes cast by bad-faith delegates.[10]

    The RNC described the new rule in a message to its membership:

    “ The resolution that we have reached is straightforward. It simply prevents a bound delegate from nominating or casting a vote for a different presidential candidate than the one to whom the delegate was legally bound by state law or state party rule.

    Instead, under this new provision, a delegate who attempts to violate his binding pledge is deemed to have resigned and the Secretary of the Convention will record the improper vote as it should have been cast based on state law or party rule.

    It leaves the actual selection of delegates up to state parties under state law and state party rules.[9][5]

    		”

    Changes to Rule 16 in April 2013

    When the RNC met in April 2013 in Los Angeles, California, they voted to change the language of Rule 16(a)(2). According to RNC Chair Reince Priebus, the modification was designed to make clear that delegates must vote for the presidential candidate to whom they are bound at the national convention. If they do not, their vote is voided and recorded as if they had voted for the candidate to whom they are bound.[11][12]

    Priebus released the following statement on April 12, 2013, discussing the amendment:

    “ Rule 16 as passed at convention resolved a perceived problem recognized by many in the 2012 primary process that candidates may have won a statewide vote in which delegates were bound to a specific candidate and then had to come back and win the delegates at another contest which sometimes didn’t reflect the results of statewide presidential preference elections.

    Today's amendment clarifies that bound delegates must vote in accordance with state party rules and state law – in other words, delegates cannot claim to support one candidate when elected at the state level and then change their loyalty to someone else later. This rule also ensures that the delegate could not be removed for failing to vote as bound and made clear a presidential candidate cannot veto delegates.[5]

    		”
    —Reince Priebus[11]

    Rule 16(a)(2) as adopted in August 2012:

    For any manner of binding or allocating delegates under these rules, if a delegate (i) casts a vote for a presidential candidate at the national convention inconsistent with the delegate’s obligation under state law or state party rule, (ii) nominates or demonstrates support under Rule No. 40 for a presidential candidate other than the one to whom the delegate is bound or allocated under state law or state party rule, or (iii) fails in some other way to carry out the delegate’s affirmative duty under state law or state party rule to cast a vote at the national convention for a particular presidential candidate, the delegate shall be deemed to have concurrently resigned as a delegate and the delegate’s improper vote or nomination shall be null and void. Thereafter the secretary of the convention shall record the delegate’s vote or nomination in accordance with the delegate’s obligation under state law or state party rule. This subsection does not apply to delegates who are bound to a candidate who has withdrawn his or her candidacy, suspended or terminated his or her campaign, or publicly released his or her delegates.    		 Rule 16(a)(2) as amended in April 2013:

    The Secretary of the Convention shall faithfully announce and record each delegate’s vote in accordance with the delegate’s obligation under these rules, state law or state party rule. If any delegate bound by these rules, state party rule or state law to vote for a presidential candidate at the national convention demonstrates support under Rule 40 for any person other than the candidate to whom he or she is bound, such support shall not be recognized. Except as provided for by state law or state party rule, no presidential candidate shall have the power to remove a delegate.

    Changes to Rule 16 in January 2014

    Rule 16 was again amended at the January 2014 meeting of the RNC in Washington, D.C.

    Rule 16(c)(2) was changed to bar winner-take-all primaries and caucuses before March 15. A new section, Rule 16(c)(3), also granted states the authority to establish a minimum threshold that a candidate must reach before he or she becomes eligible to receive delegates. That minimum threshold could not be set higher than 20 percent of the vote.[13][14]

    Rule 16(c)(2) as adopted in August 2012:

    Any presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other process to elect, select, allocate or bind delegates to the national convention that occurs prior to April 1 in the year in which the national convention is held may provide for the allocation of delegates on a proportional basis.     		Rule 16(c)(2) as amended in January 2014:

    Any presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other process to elect, select, allocate, or bind delegates to the national convention that occurs prior to March 15 in the year in which the national convention is held shall provide for the allocation of delegates on a proportional basis.
    Rule 16(c)(3) did not exist in the rules adopted in August 2012. Rule 16(c)(3) as adopted in January 2014:

    Proportional allocation of total delegates as required by Rule 16(c)(2) shall be based upon the number of statewide votes cast or the number of congressional district votes cast in proportion to the number of votes received by each candidate.

    (i) A state may establish by statewide vote or by congressional district a minimum threshold of the percentage of votes received by a candidate that must be reached below which a candidate may receive no delegates, provided such threshold is no higher than twenty percent (20%).

    (ii) A state may establish by statewide vote or by congressional district a minimum threshold of the percentage of votes received by a candidate that must be reached above which the candidate may receive all the delegates, provided such threshold is no lower than fifty percent (50%).

    Changes to Rule 16 in August 2014

    There were three minor modifications to Rule 16 following the August 2014 meeting of the RNC in Chicago, Illinois.[15][16] Language referencing the delegate selection method for the 1988 Republican National Convention was removed from Rule 16(d)(8) and Rule 16(d)(9). Rule 16(e)(3) was also revised to indicate that a state party's website was a sufficient vehicle to advertise district and state conventions.

    Rule 16(d)(8) as adopted in August 2012:

    Delegates and alternate delegates at large to the national convention when serving as delegates and alternate delegates shall be residents of and duly qualified voters in their respective states. All delegates and alternate delegates allocated as delegates and alternate delegates at large shall be elected at large in the several states; provided, however, that such allocation and method of election may be varied in any state to the extent, and only to the extent, necessary to avoid conflict with state law applicable to the selection of national convention delegates if such varying allocation and method of election were those pursuant to which delegates at large and alternate delegates at large were elected to the 1988 Republican National Convention from that state.     		Rule 16(d)(8) as amended in August 2014:

    Delegates and alternate delegates at large to the national convention when serving as delegates and alternate delegates shall be residents of and duly qualified voters in their respective states. All delegates and alternate delegates allocated as delegates and alternate delegates at large shall be elected at large in the several states.
    Rule 16(d)(9) as adopted in August 2012:

    (9) Delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention representing Congressional districts shall be residents of and qualified voters in said districts respectively then elected and when serving as delegates and alternate delegates. There shall be three (3) delegates and three (3) alternate delegates allocated to represent each Congressional district of the several states, who shall be elected by each such Congressional district; provided, however, that such number of delegates and alternate delegates allocated to represent, and elected by, any Congressional district of a state may be reduced or increased to the extent, and only to the extent, necessary to avoid conflict with state law applicable to the selection of national convention delegates if such varying allocation was that pursuant to which district delegates and alternate district delegates were elected to the 1988 Republican National Convention from the state.    		 Rule 16(d)(9) as amended in August 2014:

    Delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention representing Congressional districts shall be residents of and qualified voters in said districts respectively then elected and when serving as delegates and alternate delegates. There shall be three (3) delegates and three (3) alternate delegates allocated to represent each Congressional district of the several states, who shall be elected by each such Congressional district.
    Rule 16(e)(3) as adopted in August 2012:

    Notices of the call for any such caucus, meeting, or convention shall be published in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation in the county, district, or state, as the case may be, not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the date of such caucus, meeting, or convention.    		 Rule 16(e)(3) as amended in August 2014:

    Notices of the call for any such caucus, meeting, or convention shall be published in a newspaper or newspapers or on the state party’s website or other method sufficient for general circulation in the county, district, or state, as the case may be, not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the date of such caucus, meeting, or convention.

    Changes to Rule 10 in May 2014

    Rule 16 was not the only rule that saw changes as a result of Rule 12’s adoption. In May 2014, the RNC also amended Rule 10 to allow for the creation of a Standing Committee on Presidential Primary Debates. The amendment reads as follows:

    Rule 10(h) as adopted in May 2014:

    There shall be a Standing Committee on Presidential Primary Debates, which shall be composed of thirteen (13) members of the Republican National Committee, five (5) of whom shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and each of the four (4) regions shall elect two (2) members, one man and one woman, at its regional caucus at the RNC Summer Meeting in each even-numbered year in which no Presidential election is held. The chairman of the Republican National Committee shall appoint the chairman of the Standing Committee on Presidential Primary Debates from among the members thereof. The Standing Committee on Presidential Primary Debates shall have the authority to sanction debates on behalf of the Republican National Committee based on input from presidential campaigns and criteria which may include but are not limited to considerations of timing, frequency, format, media outlet, and the best interests of the Republican Party. Each debate sanctioned by the Standing Committee on Presidential Primary Debates shall be known as a "Sanctioned Debate." Any presidential candidate who participates in any debate that is not a Sanctioned Debate shall not be eligible to participate in any further Sanctioned Debates.

    Rule 12 and the 2016 National Convention

    On July 14, 2016, Morton Blackwell introduced an amendment to "strike [Rule 12] in its entirety" from the Rules of the Republican Party, calling it the "worst rules change ever inserted into our party rules." Debate on the amendment was heated. Gwen Bowen, a rules member from Louisiana, called Rule 12 a "power grab." Mike Lee, a U.S. Senator and rules member from Utah, backed the amendment and expressed a concern that the rule represented an "accumulation of power." On the other hand, many rules committee members supported keeping the rule. Bruce Ash of Arizona—who called Blackwell one of his heroes—said that Rule 12 was a "tool used for good." Steve Munisteri, a rules member from Texas, called it a “mechanism for dealing with an extraordinary circumstance” and “common sense."

    After roughly thirty minutes of debate, the amendment failed, 23 to 86. Moments later, while debating a different rule, Blackwell called the committee's rejection of the amendment "truly an outrage."

    The 2016 rules package, including a renewal of Rule 12, was passed by the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016.

    Rule 12 text as passed in 2016:

    The Republican National Committee may, by three-fourths (3/4) vote of its entire membership, amend Rule Nos. 1-11 and 13-25. Any such amendment shall be considered by the Republican National Committee only if it was passed by a majority vote of the Standing Committee on Rules after having been submitted in writing at least ten (10) days in advance of its consideration by the Republican National Committee and shall take effect thirty (30) days after adoption. No such amendment shall be adopted after September 30, 2018.

    See also

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Republican National Committee, "Rules of the Republican Party, 2012," accessed June 15, 2016
    2. ↑ Red State, "My Views On The Controversy At The 2012 Republican National Convention Regarding The Rules Of The Republican Party," September 4, 2012
    3. ↑ FreedomWorks, "Romney's "RNC Power Grab": What Really Happened," August 29, 2012
    4. ↑ The New York Times, "Over Loud Boos, Romney Supporters Pass New Rules," August 28, 2012
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    6. ↑ National Review, "The Election that never ends," March 7, 2012
    7. ↑ The Daily Beast, "Rules Change Sparks Grassroots Boos at GOP Convention," August 29, 2012
    8. ↑ ABC News, "GOP Convention Floor Fight Threat Looms," August 27, 2012
    9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Houston Chronicle, "Republicans reach rules change deal to avert floor fight with Texans, Ron Paul backers," August 27, 2012
    10. ↑ CNN, "Rules fight sparks drama at RNC," August 28, 2012
    11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Republican National Committee, "RNC Statement on Changes to Rules of the Republican Party," April 12, 2013
    12. ↑ Frontloading HQ, "Throwing Out Convention Votes?" December 14, 2015
    13. ↑ Republican Party of Texas, "2014 RNC Winter Meeting Recap," accessed May 18, 2016
    14. ↑ Politico, "RNC passes '16 calendar tweaks," January 24, 2014
    15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Rules2012
    16. ↑ CBS News, "RNC officially approves Cleveland as 2016 convention host," August 8, 2014
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