WA State RP Delegates getting SCREWED

Just got this in my email:

Dear Delegates & Alternates,

The Executive Board of the Washington State Republican met last night to adopt a resolution clarifying the voting procedures for our upcoming State Convention.

As you may recall, last year the State Committee adopted rules (which were approved by the Republican National Committee) whereby 18 of our state's elected delegates to the National Convention would be allocated based on the results of the precinct caucuses and county/legislative district conventions, and 19 of our state's elected delegates to the National Convention would be allocated based on the results of the presidential primary. Based on the results of our state's Republican presidential primary held on Feb. 19, Sen. McCain is entitled to 16 of those 19 delegates and Gov. Huckabee is entitled to the other 3.

To implement those rules, the Executive Board has adopted a process whereby Sen. McCain and Gov. Huckabee are required to designate a Candidate Representative authorized to approve delegates and alternates on the candidates' behalf who will review all the National Convention delegate candidacy forms, and then submit a list of candidates approved for the slots allocated to their respective candidate. Only those candidates who are on the approved lists submitted by the Candidate Representative may be listed on the ballots for those positions allocated by the presidential primary, and only votes cast for these candidates will be counted. This process will be applied to one delegate and one alternate from each Congressional District, and all ten of the at-large delegates and alternates. A copy of the resolution adopted by the Executive Board is attached.

All those who have submitted National Convention delegate candidacy forms by the deadline will appear on the pre-printed ballot used for the 18 delegates who are allocated based on the results of the of the precinct caucuses and county/legislative district conventions.

Please remember that the deadline for submitting your application forms for delegate to the National Convention is this Tuesday, May 27, at 9:00 a.m. (72 hours before the State Convention begins). Forms can be downloaded from our website (www.WSRP.org) and faxed into our office at (425) 460-0571. We look forward to seeing you in Spokane next week.

Sincerely,

Chairman Luke Esser
Washington State Republican Party

They also attached a WORD doc that reads:

Resolution Adopted by Executive Committee of the Republican State Committee of Washington May 22, 2008

Whereas, Rule 37 of the 2008 Washington State Republican Party Rules for Precinct Caucus and for Election of Delegates to State Convention provides, in relevant part:
The at-large delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention shall be allocated among the respective Presidential candidates in the same proportion (subject to the rounding of numbers) as each candidate’s share of the Republican vote in the Presidential preference primary, provided that any candidate receiving less than 20% of the vote shall not be entitled to any allocation hereunder.

Two delegates from each Congressional District Caucus shall be elected to represent Washington State at the 2008 Republican National Convention to be allocated on the basis of the participation in precinct caucuses and county conventions as provided for in these rules and in accordance with the will of the delegates elected through these processes.

One additional delegate from each Congressional District shall be elected and allocated to the winner of the presidential primary in that Congressional District.

and
Whereas, based on the formula adopted in Rule 37 as applied to the results of the February 19, 2008, primary, seven (7) at-large delegates (and 7 corresponding alternates) should be allocated to John S. McCain, three (3) at-large delegates (and 3 corresponding alternates) should be allocated to Michael D. Huckabee, and one (1) delegate (and 1 corresponding alternate) from each of Washington’s nine Congressional Districts should be allocated to John S. McCain;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved That the following procedure is hereby adopted to implement the provisions of Rule 37:
1. Each presidential candidate receiving a proportion of the Republican vote in the Presidential preference primary equal to or greater than 20%, or winning the presidential primary in any Congressional district (that is, John S. McCain and Michael D. Huckabee) shall inform the Chairman of the State Party by mail or email of the name and contact information for a Candidate Representative authorized to approve delegates and alternates on the candidate’s behalf no later than 5:00 P.M. on Monday, May 26, 2008.
2. Any individual who wishes to be a candidate for any of the national delegate or alternate positions to be allocated to a presidential candidate in accordance with the primary results must file with the State Office no later than 9:00 A.M. Tuesday, May 27 a declaration of candidacy, either electing to run at-large or listing the Congressional District for which the individual is a candidate and containing a completed version of the following pledge :
“I, [NAME], do hereby swear that I am a supporter of [NAME] for the office of the President of the United States; and that if elected as a delegate [OR ALTERNATE] to the Republican National Convention I pledge to cast my ballot as a delegate to the convention for that candidate on the first ballot unless released by the candidate, and I pledge furthermore to do all that I can to advance the cause of that candidate at the national convention.”
Any individual who wishes to be a candidate for a Congressional District national delegate or alternate slot that is not allocated based on the primary results (that is, for two of the three delegate slots and two of the three alternate slots in each Congressional District) must, in order to be listed on the printed ballot, file with the State Office no later than 9:00 A.M. Tuesday, May 27 a declaration of candidacy, listing the Congressional District for which the individual is a candidate and containing a completed version of the foregoing pledge. An individual pledged to John McCain who wishes to declare candidacy for an unallocated slot and to be listed on the printed ballot must state on the declaration of candidacy an intention to run for an “unallocated” slot as delegate or alternate. An individual pledged to any other presidential candidate who files a declaration of candidacy for a Congressional District position as delegate or alternate shall be deemed to be a candidate for an unallocated slot.
Any qualified individual who has not pre-filed in accordance with the preceding paragraph of this section may become a candidate for an unallocated national delegate or alternate Congressional District slot by filing a declaration of candidacy, listing the Congressional District for which the individual is a candidate and containing the pledge set forth above, with the Congressional District Caucus secretary no later than thirty (30) minutes after the caucus is convened; provided, that such an individual’s name will not be listed on the printed ballot but instead will be prominently posted and instructions will be given how to vote for the individual.

3. The State Chairman shall ensure that by the close of business on Tuesday, May 27, each Candidate Representative is provided with copies of the declarations of candidacy filed for all candidates for national delegate or alternate that contain pledges on behalf of the candidate, not including those candidates who state they are running for an “unallocated” Congressional District slot.
4. By no later than 10:00 A.M. Thursday, May 29, each Candidate Representative must file with the State Office lists of candidates approved for slots allocated to that presidential candidate for at-large delegate, for at-large alternate, and for allocated delegate and allocated alternate for each Congressional District to the extent the presidential candidate is entitled to such allocations.
5. With respect to each presidential candidate meeting the responsibilities and deadlines under paragraphs 1 and 4, only those candidates for delegate and alternate on the approved lists may be listed on the relevant ballots for allocated slots, and only votes cast for such candidates, for the positions for which they are approved, may be counted either for a candidate or in totaling the number of votes cast. If a presidential candidate fails to designate a Candidate Representative as provided in paragraph 1 or a Candidate Representative fails to submit lists of approved candidates as provided in paragraph 4, the State Executive Committee shall determine the approved list from among otherwise qualified candidates who file timely declarations of candidacy and pledge their support for the presidential candidate.
6. During each Congressional District caucus, the ballot or ballots shall be divided into four parts:
a) Vote for 1 delegate allocated to John McCain {with approved candidates for delegate for that Congressional District pledged to John McCain listed in alphabetical order}
b) Vote for 1 alternate allocated to John McCain {with approved candidates for alternate for that Congressional District pledged to John McCain listed in alphabetical order}
c) Vote for 2 delegates for unallocated slots {with candidates who pre-filed in accordance with paragraph 2 and are either deemed to be, or stated an intention to be, candidates for an unallocated slot listed in alphabetical order}
d) Vote for 2 alternates for unallocated slots {with candidates who pre-filed in accordance with paragraph 2 and are either deemed to be, or stated an intention to be, candidates for an unallocated slot listed in alphabetical order}

7. During balloting for at-large national delegates and alternates, the ballot or ballots shall be divided into four parts:
a) Vote for 7 delegates allocated to John McCain {with approved candidates for at-large delegate pledged to John McCain listed in alphabetical order}
b) Vote for 7 alternates allocated to John McCain {with approved candidates for at-large alternate pledged to John McCain listed in alphabetical order}
c) Vote for 3 delegates allocated to Michael Huckabee {with approved candidates for at-large delegate pledged to Michael Huckabee listed in alphabetical order}
d) Vote for 3 alternates allocated to Michael Huckabee {with approved candidates for at-large alternate pledged to Michael Huckabee listed in alphabetical order}