Published: 02-11-08
Republican and Democrat presidential hopefuls are gazing longingly at the Lone Star state where Texas voters have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in deciding who is each party’s nominee for president.With no candidate for either party getting enough delegates to nail down the nomination on Super Tuesday candidates are turning their attention to delegate-rich Texas where primary elections are scheduled for March 4.
Democrats have 228 delegates at stake while Republicans will choose 140 delegates to their party’s national convention. If you are a registered voter you may vote in either party’s primary election but not in both.
Texans do not register by party. A voter becomes “affiliated” with a party by voting in a party’s primary.
If you voted in the March 2006 Republican primary election or the April 2006 runoff primary you became “affiliated” with the Republican Party.
A primary affiliation vote does not bind a voter to either party in a general election. In November you may vote for whomever you wish regardless of either how or even whether you voted in the primary election.
Early voting for the March 4 primary begins February 19 and ends February 29. You may vote at an early voting site regardless of whether it is in your regular voting precinct.
It has been a long time since there have been such hotly contested presidential races so it is understandable if you are unfamiliar with how delegates are chosen.
Texas Republicans apportion all of their national convention delegates among the presidential candidates based solely on the primary election vote. For Republicans the winner of the March 4 primary gets all 140 delegate votes.
Democrats apportion national convention delegates among the presidential candidates based on both the results of the primary election and a “caucus” system at local and state party conventions. For Democrats Texas is not a winner-take-all state.
Both Democrats and Republicans choose delegates to their respective state conventions through a two-step process that begins at precinct conventions on March 4 immediately after the polls close. Anyone who voted in the primary election may - and I believe should - attend the precinct convention.
Delegates to the county/district conventions held on March 29 are chosen at the precinct convention. State convention delegates are elected at county/district conventions while delegates to the national conventions are elected at state conventions.
The Texas House of Representatives has an excellent summary of the primary election process on its House research Web site: http://www.hro.house.state.tx.us/. Click on “New Reports” and then on “Interim News January 24.”
Unfortunately because the process of selecting delegates to state and national conventions is complicated many voters simply choose not to participate in their precinct conventions. That is a serious mistake because that’s where it all begins. I urge voters to cast their ballots on March 4 and become involved in the process of selecting the national party convention delegates who will write the party’s platform by going to their precinct conventions regardless of which party you choose.
