The voting that occured at the Iowa caucuses Thurday is NOT BINDING!!!
The voting that occured at the Iowa caucuses Thurday is NOT BINDING!!!
The Iowa GOP website has this to say:
"The results of this caucus activity on both the Republican and Democratic sides are not binding on the elected delegates, but the delegates usually feel obligated to follow the wishes expressed by the caucus-goers. Thus the initial caucus results provide a good barometer of the composition of Iowa’s national delegation, keeping in mind the effect that candidates’ withdrawals can have right up to convention voting time."
see:
http://www.iowagop.net/inner.asp?z=4
Wikipedia reads:
"The Iowa caucus is an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa elect delegates to the county convention to which their precinct belongs in a caucus. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions. These county conventions then select delegates for both Iowa's Congressional District Convention and the State Convention, which eventually choose the delegates for the presidential nominating conventions (the national conventions)."
THE DELEGATES WHO WERE CHOSEN ARE WHAT IS IMPORTANT!
Delegates from precincts do not have to declare which candidate they support. But they need to attend their County Convention where other delages will be chosen to go to District and State conventions, and eventually the delegates for the National Convention. Iowa will have 40 Republican National Convention delegates. NONE OF THESE DELEGATES HAVE BEEN SELECTED YET!!!
That being so, it is VERY important that the RON PAUL supporters who were chosen to be delegates for their precinct commit to this duty. THESE DELEGATES NEED TO SHOW UP and try to keep advancing to the county, district and state levels.
Here's a link where you can click on a county and get information about when and where delegates will meet for the next rounds.
http://www.iowagop.net/countycontacts.asp
What Happens Next?
On MARCH 1st, delegates that were selected at the precinct caucuses move on to each county convention (there are 99 counties in Iowa) where a sub-set of delegates from each county is selected to attend the several District Conventions, and so forth to the State Convention.
The State Convention won't be held until June 14th, and that is where the delegates are selected who will attend the National Convention.
It is important that precinct delegates are informed about the process and SHOW UP to their County Conventions on March 1st!!!
NOTE: There are thousands of precincts in Iowa, and thousands of delegates from these precincts need to show up at the 99 county conventions where a hundreds of delegates will be choosen to attend the district conventions, and then on to the state state convention. Eventually, 40 delegates will be choosen to represent Iowa at the national Convention. Whoever is reporting that any national delegates are have been pledged at this point is mistaken. District Delegates haven't even been selected at the County Level yet!!!
THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT PRECINCT DELEGATES ARE RON PAUL SUPPORTERS SO THEY KNOW WHAT THEY NEED TO DO TO STAY ENGAGED, SHOW UP AT THIER COUNTY CONVENTIONS AND VIE FOR DISTRICT DELEGATE POSITIONS!!!
DELEGATES ARE NOT BOUND TO THE CAUCUS STRAW POLLS and THEY CAN BE PURSUADED TO VOTE FOR WHOMEVER THEY PREFER!!
