National Delegate Voting Guide for Utah State Delegates

GUIDE TO DECIDE WHO TO SEND TO CLEVELAND

I attended the 2012 State Convention in which we elected National Delegates, and I’m sorry to say that I didn’t prepare in advance and ended up making last-minute decisions for National Delegates based on name recognition, the Romney slate, and friends. Fortunately, it didn’t matter much since almost everyone in the state was for Romney. This year, however, is dramatically different, so I’d like to share what I’ve learned and offer up this Guide.

STEP 1) UNDERSTAND THE ROLES and the VOTING
There are multiple categories of Delegates and Alternates, and candidates for the slots choose which of the categories they’d like to run for. Both delegates and alternates go to the convention, but delegates have final voting decision power. Alternates are there for the experience almost as advisors, to help the delegates with additional eyes and ears.

Utah has 40 voting slots. 3 are dedicated to party officers (Party Chair, National Committeeman, and National Comitteewoman). Each of the 4 Congressional Districts elect 3 Delegates, leaving 25 At-Large slots. All 40 Alternate slots are elected.

The categories to be elected and the number of votes for category are (Note that you will only vote in your own Congressional District):
– National Delegate At-Large ( 25)
– National Delegate At-Large (Alternate) (28)
– National Delegate Congressional District 1 (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 1 – Alternate (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 2 (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 2 – Alternate (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 3 (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 3 – Alternate (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 4 (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 4 – Alternate (3)

There is only one round of voting and the top vote-getters in each category are elected. Ties are decided by a coin-toss.

STEP 2) IDENTIFY YOUR KNOWN FAVORITES – KEEP A LIST OF NAMES & BALLOT ‪#s
Your list will actually be 4 lists – ND, ND-Alt, CD, and CD-Alt. You’ll probably already know certain candidates from the list that you’d like to vote for.

In fact, I would suggest reviewing the list of candidates and look for people you know and trust (it’s in a spreadsheet at GOP.gov – the latest version is always at: https://docs.google.com/…/1r3axOLXqtzHfOP6KqWM9ODaall…/edit… )

The first column of the list is the candidate’s Ballot # – for example, my ballot # is 324. When you find people you know you’d like to vote for, just keep a list of their ballot number and name to take to the Convention with you – by category so you don’t go over the # of votes you’ll have allotted for each category.

For various reasons, you’ll want to add the names of someone you don’t know. For example, I’m voting for Chris Herrod #976 because I had a great conversation with him the other day and was impressed. He’s also the Vice Chair for Cruz in Utah. I’m also voting for Casey Voeks #987 because I was impressed with him when he was Utah County Chair and he’s agreed to help me with my plan to blog and get media attention for the truth about the convention from the floor, based on my 25 years of national PR and social media experience. I also called Brian Halladay #326 the other day to compare notes – and I found that we think almost exactly alike about Cruz, Trump, and voting scenarios. So he’s on my list too.

I hope you’ll also add me (David Whittle #324) to your list for National Delegate Congressional District #3 – because I have absolutely no political ambitions but love civic service, love the Constitution, and will use my talents and expertise in the art of influence and social media (I was IBM’s first online PR rep and a published author on the human and social aspects of the Internet) to help get positive publicity for “Constitutional principles” and “Utah values.”

The point is to identify as many candidates as you can based on whatever criteria you’ve identified as being important to you, and keep a list of the candidates by ballot #. I personally keep my list in order of preference – because you might keep changing your list right up to the minutes before you vote.

Slates can be very helpful in your decision-making – but I’d strongly recommend that you avoid turning over your entire decision to the makers of any given slate. Not even the Cruz slate. By their very nature, slates are rooted in cronyism. For example, I didn’t even find out about most slates until it was too late. That’s because I’m not a player in Utah politics, and have no desire to be. The slates are generally comprised of friends of friends helping each other – that can be a good thing, but I definitely wouldn’t turn over my responsibility to vet the candidates and find those I’m comfortable with to the maker of any single slate. Use the slates to add names you recognize and for additional ideas after you’ve added the names you’ve vetted yourself.

Above all, don’t buy into their propaganda that you have to vote for everyone on the slate or you’ll split the vote in favor of the big names. That will only happen if you vote for the big names only because they’re big names. For example, I personally plan to vote for Mike Lee – not because he’s a big name or on the Cruz slate, but because I love what he stands for and how he’s represented me in DC. There are a LOT of other big names I won’t be voting for, because THIS is the year we need to send a grass-roots delegation to Cleveland. Men and women who will vote their conscience and do everything within their power to promote “Utah values” in their voting.

STEP 3) TAKE YOUR EVER-CHANGING LIST TO THE STATE CONVENTION
Your list will make it easy to vote. But don’t “finish” it too soon. In other words, just because you’ve filled in 25 NDs and 28 Alt-NDs and 3 CDs and 3 Alt-CDs, don’t close your mind to finding someone you’ll like better at the convention! At the convention, you’ll get a lot of “slates” you’ll want to review. You’ll probably be able to meet people like me handing out their reasons why they think they would make the best delegates. Keep your list handy and fluid, and bring a pencil so you make changes on the fly.

Then, when it’s time to vote, listen to your heart as you vote for your list – starting at the top in each category.

STEP 4) AFTER VOTING, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BIG SMILE ON YOUR FACE BECAUSE YOU’VE DONE A GREAT JOB OF REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE WHO ELECTED YOU TO MAKE TOUGH DECISIONS AFTER CAREFUL CONSIDERATION OF THE VARIOUS CHOICES

Enjoy the convention!

David Whittle, Candidate for National Delegate Congressional District 3
Ballot #324