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Bob Mulholland Answers Questions: California’s February 5 Presidential Primary and Delegates
By Bob Mulholland
Campaign Advisor,
California Democratic Party
Will the candidates who have dropped out (Biden, Dodd, Kucinich, and Richardson) still be on the California statewide ballot?
Yes, and they will all get some votes – very few though.
Will the Independent votes be counted the same as Democratic votes?
Yes. If one precinct has 88 ballots cast by registered Democrats and 12 ballots cast by Independents for a total of 100, then 100 ballots are counted equally.
Does California have a Winner-Take-All (WTA) system to allocate delegates?
No, but the Republicans still use Winner-Take-All.
The Democratic National Committee has prohibited WTA since the 1972 Convention.
We use a proportional system – candidates who get 15 percent or more are entitled to delegates.
Democrats use the “15 Percent Rule” nationwide in all 50 states plus D.C., Democrats Abroad and the four U.S. territories.
In the Republican Party, the only votes that count toward delegates are the ones cast for the winner, either at the statewide or CD level, while Democrats award delegates to all the candidates with 15 percent or more of the vote.
How does the “15 Percent Rule” actually work?
From the voter’s point of view, it’s very simple – they just vote for their presidential candidate, and the delegate allocation is handled by the DNC Rules and the approved California Democratic Party Delegate Selection Plan.
A presidential candidate who does not do well statewide could win just 15 percent in only one Congressional District (CD) in the whole state and that candidate will get one delegate in that CD.
There are 241 (121 female & 120 male) district-level delegates, allocated three to six per CD in 53 CDs, plus 40 CDs each get one alternate. The vote results of the Feb. 5 Primary in each CD will determine how many delegates each candidate gets in each CD. The actual delegates will be elected at the April 13 Caucuses held in California’s 53 CDs. Candidates will hold Caucuses in each CD in which they received at least 15 percent of the vote.
Any candidate who gets 15 percent or more of the statewide vote will get a proportion of the 129 statewide delegates, 81 At-Large and 48 PLEOs (Pledged, Party Leaders and Elected Officials). These delegates will be confirmed at the May 18, 2008 Delegation meeting (city TBD) of the 241 district-level delegates.
The district-level and statewide delegates are not interdependent of each other, but no candidate mathematically can win delegates statewide, unless they have received 15 percent or more in most of the CDs.
Example of Statewide Election Results:
Step 1
Candidate Votes Percentage of Vote
A 40 .400
B 30 .300
C 20 .200
D (all others) 10 .100
Total Votes 100 100%
Step 2
D candidates are dropped - you now have 40 + 30 + 20 = revised total of 90 votes.
Candidate Votes ÷ Revised Votes New Percentage of Vote
A 40 ÷ 90 = .444
B 30 ÷ 90 = .333
C 20 ÷ 90 = .222
Step 3
Candidate Vote % x # of Delegates Del. Alloc. Whole No.* # of Delegates*
A .444 x 129 = 57.276 57 57
B .333 x 129 = 42.957 42 43
C .222 x 129 = 28.638 28 29
129 Total Delegates
* Under DNC Rules, first look at the whole number, then the fraction, and award any remaining delegate or two to the ones with the highest fractions.
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