Your vote on March 1st in the Presidential Primary is a vote for how Georgia’s delegates to the both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. At each national convention, the number of delegates that a candidate has determines which candidate will be the party’s nominee for President of the United States. Since each party selects its nominee according to the amount of delegates pledged to different nominees, it is slightly possible that a candidate can become the nominee without winning the most votes of the general public. Each party, Republican and Democrat, have a different method for assigning delegate votes in accordance with the general public votes on March 1st, Super Tuesday, the Presidential Primary days for Georgia and 12 other states. Georgia’s Republican and Democrat parties wrote the respective rules for how delegates are assigned at the National Convention. Georgia’s rules are not the same as other states’ National Convention delegate counts.
Georgia‘s Republicans will send 76 delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention. These delegates are divided into two groups. 42 delegates are district-level delegates which means they must vote according to which candidate won the highest percentage of votes in their congressional district. The candidate with the highest percentage receives two delegate votes and the one with the second highest receives 1 vote. If a candidate receives more than 50% of votes in the district, that candidate receives all three votes from the district. The 31 delegates to the Republican National Convention are proportionally assigned among the candidates who receive at least 20% of the vote. For instance, in the latest Republican primaries, Trump, Cruz and Rubio have each gathered 20% or more of the popular vote. Kasich and Carson have received less than 10% each. If the Georgia’s numbers are similar, the 34 proportionally-assigned delegates will go to only Trump, Cruz and Rubio. The remaining three delegates to the Republican National Convention must vote for the candidate who won the state primary.
Georgia’s Democrats take 117 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. 88 delegate votes are assigned according to the proportion of Georgia’s popular vote he or she wins, as long as it is greater than 15% of the Democratic votes. 14 delegates, one from each congressional district, must vote for whoever received the greatest number of votes in their district. The remaining 15 delegates may vote for either Democratic candidate regardless of the amount of popular votes that candidate received.
The mathematical mishmash is convoluted to understand. But, it is important to remember that the popular vote does not always determine Presidential Candidates or the President. One needs to look no further that the Bush v. Gore election in 2000. In 2000, Gore won the popular vote but Bush won the electoral vote. The 12th Amendment of the US Constitution states that it is the number of electoral college votes, not the citizens’ vote that determines the President. Thus, in 2000, Bush, not Gore, became President.
Georgia has 16 electoral votes. These electors are not legally bound to vote according to which candidate received what percentage of the vote. The electors can vote for the candidate of their choice.
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There have been 22,991 electoral votes cast since presidential elections became competitive (in 1796), and only 17 have been cast for someone other than the candidate nominated by the elector's own political party. 1796 remains the only instance when the elector might have thought, at the time he voted, that his vote might affect the national outcome.
The electors are and will be dedicated party activist supporters of the winning party’s candidate who meet briefly in mid-December to cast their totally predictable rubberstamped votes in accordance with their pre-announced pledges.
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld state laws guaranteeing faithful voting by presidential electors (because the states have plenary power over presidential electors).