See who's running for Nat'l Delegate in WA state

The rules state that all delegates elected to the National Convention MUST get a majority vote in the Obama sub-caucus to be elected. How does that happen? What's the deal in the rules about a second ballot?

Let's use the 7th CD as an example:

The 7th CD is allocated a total of 5 female delegates, 4 male delegates, and 1 male alternate. If the delegate proportion remains the same (237 delegates for Obama, 70 for Clinton), Obama will get 4 female delegates, 3 male delegates and 1 male alternate.

Let’s assume the allocation stays the same, for these examples, with 237 delegates, so you have to get 119 votes or more to be elected if everyone votes in the election.

Delegates will vote for EXACTLY 4 females and 3 males on the first ballot. Anyone who receives a majority vote on the first or second ballot will receive a national delegate position. It’s unlikely that all of the slots will be elected on the first ballot, so there will be a second ballot, narrowing the field to twice the number of spots remaining in each gender, with the highest vote getters in the first ballot being the only candidates who can be voted on in the second election. On the second ballot, again people can only vote for EXACTLY the # of national delegate slots remaining.

It’s confusing, but it’s kind of like run-off voting.

I’ve included an example to explain the process:

After the first tally,
In the male race, the top vote getters are:
Joe gets 123 votes, John gets 99 votes, Adam gets 96 votes, George gets 93 votes, Paul gets 91 votes, and everyone else gets fewer votes than 91.
Joe is the only candidate who got a majority, so he is awarded the first National Delegate slot.

There are two spots remaining, so they have a second election with the next four highest vote getters (number of spots available x 2), where everyone is asked to vote for exactly two people. So everyone votes for two people among John, Adam, George and Paul. The remaining candidates (anyone who got fewer votes) are not voted on in the next election.

In the second race, Adam gets 140 votes, George gets 121 votes, John gets 110 votes, and Paul gets 103 votes. Adam and George have majority votes, and receive the two remaining national delegate spots. John, as the next highest vote getter, receives the alternate spot.

Candidate	First Ballot	Second Ballot	Nat’l Delegates
Joe	123 (majority)	n/a	Delegate
John	99	110	Alternate
Adam	96	140 (majority)	Delegate
George	93	121 (majority)	Delegate
Paul	91	103	n/a
All other male candidates	<91	n/a	n/a

In the female race, the top vote getters are:
Jane gets 95 votes, Jill gets 88 votes, Nancy gets 75 votes, Gloria gets 73 votes, Michelle gets 64 votes, Fran gets 63 votes, Tammy gets 63 votes, Kim gets 57 votes and everyone else gets less than 57 votes.

No one received a majority, so no National Delegate slots are awarded. There are four spots remaining, so they have a second election with the eight highest vote getters (number of spots available x 2), where everyone is asked to vote for exactly 4 people. So everyone votes for 4 people among Jane, Jill, Nancy, Gloria, Michelle, Fran, Tammy, and Kim.

In the second race, Jane gets 165, Gloria gets 145, Michelle gets 132, Jill gets 119, Nancy gets 99, Fran gets 96, Kim gets 95, and Tammy gets 93 votes. Jane, Gloria, Michelle and Jill receive the 4 national delegate slots.

Candidate	First Ballot	Second Ballot	Nat’l Delegates
Jane	95	165 (majority)	Delegate
Jill	88	119 (majority)	Delegate
Nancy	75	99	n/a
Gloria	73	145 (majority)	Delegate
Michelle	64	132 (majority)	Delegate
Fran	63	96	n/a
Tammy	63	93	n/a
Kim	57	95	n/a
All other female candidates	<57	n/a	n/a

FAQ’s:
Do women only vote for women and men only vote for men?

• No, every delegate or “seated” alternate will vote for candidates in both genders.

What if I vote for more or less people than there are slots available?

• Your ballot will not count unless the exact # of slots available within each gender are voted for.

If I don’t make it to the second ballot, do I need to stick around?

• If you are a delegate, please do! Your vote is incredibly important and valuable! If you are not a delegate, we would love it if you could stay, but we understand if you have to leave.

What if not all 237 delegates vote? How is a majority determined?

• Majority is determined by the number of ballots cast that are not invalidated. So if 15 delegates left and didn’t vote and 13 delegates did not vote for the right # of people or failed to sign their ballot, 209 ballots would be considered valid, and 105 votes would be majority.

How long is this going to take?

• We have 300 candidates in the 7th CD. If they all take 20 seconds to speak, it will take about 1.5 hours to listen to speeches, then the first ballot will need to be tallied, which may take a while, then the second ballot will be need to be cast and tallied. Everyone on the tally committee is a volunteer, so please be patient. It may take a while and we hope all delegates can stay until the second ballots are cast. Anticipate committing the entire day.