Here is the text of the applicable RNC by-law:
http://www.gop.com/About/AboutRead.a...e=4&Section=16
(scan my other posts for a simpler version!)
Again, the campaigns themselves chose the slates of delegate candidates to represent them. Those delegate (and alternate) candidates must get elected and adhere to state law and this rule (among others):
RULE NO. 15
Election of Delegates and Alternate Delegates
(a) Order of Precedence.
Delegates at large and their alternate delegates and delegates from congressional districts and their alternate delegates to the national convention shall be elected in the following manner:
(1) In accordance with any applicable Republican Party rules of a state, insofar as the same are not inconsistent with these rules; or,
(2) To the extent not provided for in the applicable Republican Party rules of a state, in accordance with any applicable laws of a state, insofar as the same are not inconsistent with these rules; or,
(3) By a combination of the methods set forth in paragraphs (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this rule; or,
(4) To the extent not provided by state law or party rules, as set forth in paragraph (c) of this rule.
(b) Timing
(1) Except with respect to delegates and alternate delegates elected under paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this rule and if consistent with paragraph (d)(4) of this rule:
(i) No presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other meeting may be held for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates or alternate delegates to the national convention, prior to the first Tuesday of February in the year in which the national convention is held; and,
(ii) The selection process of choosing those who will select delegates or alternate delegates shall not begin before September 1 of the year before the year in which the national convention is to be held.
(c) General.
In all elections of delegates or alternate delegates to the national convention, the following rules shall apply:
(1) Delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention may be elected only in one of the following manners:
(i) by primary election;
(ii) by the Republican state committee, where specifically provided by state law;
(iii) by state and congressional district conventions;
(iv) by any method consistent with these rules by which delegates and alternate delegates were selected to the most recent Republican National Convention from that state;
(v) by Rule No. 13 (a)(2) of these rules.
(2) Only persons eligible to vote who are deemed as a matter of public record to be Republicans pursuant to state law or, if voters are not enrolled by party, by Republican party rules of a state, shall participate in any primary election held for the purpose of electing delegates or alternate delegates to the national convention or in any Republican caucus, mass meeting, or mass convention held for the purpose of selecting delegates to the county, district, or state conventions, and only such legal and qualified voters shall be elected as delegates to county, district, and state conventions; provided, however, that in addition to the qualifications provided herein, the applicable Republican party rules of a state may prescribe additional qualifications not inconsistent with law, which additional qualifications shall be adopted before the first Tuesday in September in the year before the year in which the national convention is to be held and published in at least one (1) newspaper having a general circulation throughout the state, such publication to be at least ninety (90) days before such qualifications become effective.
(3) No state law shall be observed which permits any person to participate in a primary delegate and alternate delegate selection process that also permits that person at the same primary to participate in the choosing of nominees of any other party for other elective office. Delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention shall in that event be selected pursuant to state party rules that are not inconsistent with the Rules of the Republican Party; provided, however, that the selection process established by the state party rules shall provide that only persons eligible to vote who are deemed to be Republicans pursuant to state law or state party rules shall participate in such delegate selection process.
(4) In any jurisdiction in which Republican representation upon the board of judges or inspectors of elections for primary elections is denied by law, delegates and alternate delegates shall be elected as provided in paragraph (a)(1) or (a)(4) of this rule.
(5) In selecting delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention, no state law shall be observed which hinders, abridges, or denies to any citizen of the United States, eligible under the Constitution of the United States to hold the office of President of the United States or Vice President of the United States, the right or privilege of being a candidate under such state law for the nomination for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States or which authorizes the election of a number of delegates or alternate delegates from any state to the national convention different from that fixed in these rules.
(6) Alternate delegates shall be elected to the national convention for each unit of representation equal in number to the number of delegates elected therein and shall be chosen in the same manner and at the same time as the delegates and under the same rules; provided, however, that if the law of any state shall prescribe another method of choosing alternate delegates, they may be chosen in accordance with the provisions of the law of the state in which the election occurs, except that no alternates shall be selected for Republican National Committee members.
(7) 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.
(8) Delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention representing congressional districts shall be residents of and qualified voters in said districts respectively when 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.
(9) No delegate or alternate delegate to the national convention shall be required to pay an assessment or fee in excess of that provided by the law of the state in which his or her election occurs as a condition of serving as a delegate or alternate delegate to the national convention.
(10) There shall be no automatic delegates to the national convention who serve by virtue of party position or elective office, except as provided for in Rule No. 13 (a)(2).
(11) No delegates or alternate delegates shall be selected pursuant to any Republican Party rule of a state or state law which materially changes the manner of selecting delegates or alternate delegates or the date upon which such state party holds a presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention if such changes were adopted or made effective after the first Tuesday in September of the year before the year in which the national convention is to be held. Where it is not possible for a state party to certify the manner and the date upon which it holds a presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention in effect in that state on the date and in the manner provided in paragraph (e) of this rule, the process for holding the presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention shall be conducted in the same manner and held upon the same date as was used for the immediately preceding national convention. If it is not possible to hold a presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention upon the same date as was used for the immediately preceding national convention, then delegates or alternate delegates shall be selected by congressional district or state conventions pursuant to paragraph (d) of this rule.
(d) Conventions.
Wherever state law permits or the Republican Party rules of a state require the election of delegates and alternate delegates by convention or there is no applicable state law or Republican Party rule, delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention shall be elected by congressional district or state conventions pursuant to the following rules:
(1) Congressional district or state conventions shall be called by the Republican state committee.
(2) Delegates to congressional district conventions may be elected in precinct caucuses, mass meetings, mass conventions, or county conventions in which only eligible voters in such precinct, county, or district, as the case may be, shall vote.
(3) 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 (l5) days prior to the date of such caucus, meeting, or convention.
(4) No delegates shall be deemed eligible to participate in any congressional district or state convention the purpose of which is to elect delegates to the national convention who are elected prior to the date of the issuance of the call of such national convention.
(5) Congressional district conventions shall be composed of delegates who are persons eligible to vote and who are deemed to be Republicans pursuant to state law or party rules. State conventions shall be composed of delegates who are persons eligible to vote and who are deemed to be Republicans pursuant to state law or party rules in the respective districts which they represent in said state conventions. Such delegates shall be apportioned by the state Republican Party among counties, parishes, and cities of the state or district having regard to the Republican vote or the population therein.
(6) There shall be no proxies at any district or state convention (which shall not include meetings of a Republican state committee) held for the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention. If alternate delegates to such selection convention are selected, the alternate delegate and no other shall vote in the absence of the delegate.
(e) Certification and filing by state committees.
(1) On or before the first Tuesday in September of the year before the year in which the national convention is to be held, each Republican state committee shall adopt rules, procedures, policies, and instructive materials (prepared pursuant to Rule No. 14(a)) governing the selection of delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention to convene during the following year and shall certify and file with the secretary of the Republican National Committee true copies of the same and of all statutes governing the selection of such delegates and alternate delegates.
(2) The Republican National Committee may grant a waiver to a state party from certain provisions of this rule in the following instance:
(i) Where it is not possible for a state party to comply with the first Tuesday in September deadline delineated in paragraph (e)(1) of this rule and not possible for a state party to hold its presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention as was used for the immediately preceding national convention or to select delegates or alternate delegates by congressional district or state conventions pursuant to paragraph (d) of this rule, and the Republican National Committee determines that granting such waiver is in the best interests of the Republican Party.
