The Sacramento Bee gave a rundown this morning of how California delegates are chosen for both parties. The Republican delegates are pretty straightforward, but the Democrats are very complicated.
Republican:
Total delegates: 172
Three delegates each to the winner of each Congressional district, for a total of 159.
10 at large delegates go to the candidate who receives the most votes statewide.
Three pre-determined delegates - the state Republican Party Chairman and two state National Committeeman and -woman.
Democrat:
Total delegates: 546
317 delegates allocated by Congressional district based on population and presidential voting in prior elections. (It isn’t clear if this is just population by census, or by the number of registered Democrats)
105 at-large delegates confirmed at a statewide delegation meeting on June 19 and subject to approval by the presidential candidate they pledge to support (this is very vague)
53 party leaders and elected officials, including big-city mayors, statewide elected officials and legislative leaders.
71 Unpledged superdelegates, including the Governor and members of Congress.
The article also says that there will be a mandatory meeting of all Republican delegates in Los Angeles on June 25.
The cost for each Democratic delegate to stay in Philadelphia for the convention will run $3600 to $4100 per delegate. The cost for each Republican delegate to stay in Cleveland for the convention will run $3000 to $6000 per delegate (plus, presumably, the cost of the mandatory Los Angeles meeting).
For California residents eligible to vote and not registered yet, please use http://registertovote.ca.gov/ to register before May 23rd for the California primary. Yes, I know the presidential primaries may be all sewn up by then, but there are several other very important races to consider. Other voter California information here: Voter Registration :: California Secretary of State
USA residents eligible to vote and not registered yet, please use https://vote.usa.gov/
Same allocation method as *every other state *Dem side. That’s the Green Papers and they go into quite a bit of detail. California as a late state gets a 20% bonus number of delegates compared to early states. Some that day also get a “cluster” bonus of another 15% (Both of the Dakotas and Montana.)
Relevant article about the Pub primary. In a nutshell, California is so overwhelmingly blue that its GOP is reduced to a remnant of RW cranks . . . and those are the people who will be deciding whether to give the state’s vast number of delegates to Trump or Crus.
There’s a fair number of cranks but also a sizeable number of non-cranks. The problem with this state for the GOP nominee is that its so large and spread out that if you want to ensure a good haul of delegates, you have to campaign all over and spend a lot of money. With smaller states, you can just hit “Iowa” or “Nebraska” and do well enough in a big population to get enough delegates, but here you must appeal from everyone to LA Republicans to Fresno Republicans to Orange County Republicans and all of their votes are equal.
Surprisingly, to me, that does seem to be the case according to the green papers. Republican side is party only but Dem side is members and independents. I thought that since the State fixed the rules for primary voting that woukd be the same for both sides. Though if you really want to vote against Trump for some crazy reason you should look into how late you can register as a Republican to get in. Some States let you register as you pick up your ballot.
That’s voter registration deadline but I don’t think that necessarily is the same deadline as when you had to sign up for the party to be eligible. It’s my understanding that in New York voter registration was until March 23rd but to be eligible to vote in the Republican primary you had to have been a registered Republican since last October.
The California law is as follows: People who are registered as “Non-Partisan” * can either select a non-partisan ballot or they can choose the ballot of any of the other parties so long as the party explicitly allows it. At the moment, the parties that allow it are the Dems and two third parties that I can’t recall. I am a Non-Partisan who votes absentee. A few months before the election, I get a post card sent to me that I mail back with my choice of ballot. I always choose Democratic.
*Not “Independent.” There is a thing called the American Independent Party that is a minor third party.
That is funny. It’s almost aa mirror flip between Trump and Cruz. Since Trump is polling well I can only assume that all the extra factors that go in to polls plus are in Cruz’s favour. e.g. Cruz’s endorsements and Trump’s recent string of losses.
A recent poll in California shows that 73% of California voters registered as members of the American Independent Party thought they were registering as independents. Voters registered as independent will be allowed to vote in the Democratic primary, but if you’re registered as an American Independent, you can only vote in the AIP primary.
What’s the difference? The big two American parties have no membership rolls or cards or dues – you “join” by registering to vote as R or D and there is no other way to join.