Pre-register to be a "delegate" to the 11th Congressional District Convention (or whatever Congressional District you live in now) by the deadline set by your County or City Republican Committee.
The registration deadline has passed. So if you haven't already registered, unfortunately you won't be able to vote, though you can attend the convention as a guest. If you'd like to still help out my campaign, small donations are greatly appreciated to help me pay for mailings to the registered delegates and other campaign expenses.
If you're not sure whether you pre-registered or whether your application was accepted, you may email me or your County or City Republican Committee and ask to check the list of certified delegates for your name.
Research the candidates and offices, and make a preliminary preference list for yourself.
If you are registered for the convention, there are several offices on which you have a vote:
- 3 State Central Committee representatives for the 11th District (serves as the governing board of the Republican Party of Virginia).
- 1 Chairman of the 11th District Committee (helps federal candidate campaigns by leading the 11th District Committee, which also consists of the three State Central representatives and representatives of the local Young Republicans, College Republicans, and Virginia Federation of Republican Women; also serves on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia)
- 3 Delegates and 3 Alternate Delegates to the National Republican Convention in Tampa, FL (our district's representatives to the convention where the national Republican party will formally nominate our Presidential candidate, set the official Republican issue platform, and decide on the nominating process rules for the 2016 election cycle.)
- 1 Presidential Elector (if the Republican Presidential nominee wins Virginia, this person will cast a vote for him in the Electoral College; basically an honorary position)
Under the rules established by the current members of the 11th District Committee (by a close and contentious majority vote of the committee), election to any of these offices requires a majority vote of all delegates present and voting. Because of the number of candidates running, multiple rounds of balloting may be required to fill all the seats. Moreover, the lowest vote-getter will NOT be dropped after each round of voting, so the only way to get to a majority on a subsequent round is from some people switching votes and others leaving early. (It's worth noting this is not just "standard procedure"--most of the other Congressional districts are choosing their candidates by simple plurality votes on a single round of balloting.)
If you're wondering how a "majority" works when people are casting multiple votes for the same position, here's an example: There are 3 seats for the 11th District on the State Central Committee, so you'll be allowed to vote for up to 3 people for State Central on the first ballot. If there are 100 people voting, a majority means at least 51 people choose that person as one of their three votes. It is quite possible for two or three people to each get a majority in the same round of voting.
If you're wondering how a "majority" works when people are casting multiple votes for the same position, here's an example: There are 3 seats for the 11th District on the State Central Committee, so you'll be allowed to vote for up to 3 people for State Central on the first ballot. If there are 100 people voting, a majority means at least 51 people choose that person as one of their three votes. It is quite possible for two or three people to each get a majority in the same round of voting.
Under these procedures, only voting for one or two people will cause more rounds of ballots to be necessary, and will end up dragging out the time for the convention. So please do research the candidates before you come and vote a full ballot.
(Click here if you are interested in more detailed information about how this procedure works and why it's important to vote a full ballot.)
(Click here if you are interested in more detailed information about how this procedure works and why it's important to vote a full ballot.)
Come to Oakton High School by 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 19.
When you arrive at Oakton HS, go to the registration desk with your photo ID to get your credentials badge. When it comes time to vote in any round, you will need to show your badge to get a ballot, so make sure you hold on to it, especially if you leave the building for a while and come back.
Registration opens at 9:00 am but the convention doesn't actually start until 11:00 am. When the convention opens there will be speeches from candidates, and balloting will begin no earlier than 11:45. Arriving by 11:30 will ensure you can get your badge before voting begins.
FYI, the registration desks will be continuously open from 9:00 a.m. until whenever the convention ends, with the exception of periods of time when voting is taking place. So even if you miss the first round of voting and show up at 1:00 p.m., you can still take part in any subsequent rounds of voting.
FYI, the registration desks will be continuously open from 9:00 a.m. until whenever the convention ends, with the exception of periods of time when voting is taking place. So even if you miss the first round of voting and show up at 1:00 p.m., you can still take part in any subsequent rounds of voting.
Cast your votes in one or more rounds.
When a round of voting begins, you will take your badge back to the registration desk, have it hole-punched, and get a "bubble sheet" type ballot. After you fill out the ballot, you will run it through a counting machine.
When the time for the round of voting closes, the votes will be tallied up and weighted by jurisdiction. (Based on state party rules, Fairfax County delegates get 79% of the voting power, Prince William delegates get 17% of the voting power, and Fairfax City delegates get 4%.) Results will be announced, and if not all the positions are filled by majority votes, there will be another round of voting. Depending on how the vote is split, this process could take about an hour (i.e. for one round of ballots) or it could take several hours.
My goal is to have broad enough support to win a seat on the first ballot, and your vote can make that happen even if you can't stay for long. But in case multiple ballots are required to decide these elections, if you can, please be prepared to stay at or near Oakton HS throughout the afternoon. If you have a mobile device for checking email, you can sign up for my instant notification list (check "May 19 Rapid Response" option), so you can do other things nearby and we'll inform you when the next round of votes is starting.
Hold your State Central representatives accountable!
I find this whole process needlessly complicated and time-consuming, and I suspect many of you agree. It seems to be designed to discourage people with busy lives from understanding and participating in the process.
State Central can change that - if you elect representatives who are committed to reforming the process to invite more people to be active participants in the Virginia Republican Party. The representatives serve 4 year terms, which makes it harder to hold them accountable if they are not doing a good job of leading RPV. So it is really important to choose carefully on May 19!
Whoever is elected to State Central, we can't let them operate as an exclusive club that makes decisions without listening to voters. When you see them recognized at Republican events, please make sure you ask them what they have been doing to grow the party and elect Republican candidates, and let them know where you would like to see changes.
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More on this voting procedure and why not to "bullet vote":
You may have heard talk about "bullet voting" for only your first-choice candidate, or you might have signed up for the convention because you wanted to support one person in particular. Bullet-voting for a single candidate only works if the winners are defined as the top 3 vote-getters, as the 10th District will be doing. But here is an illustration of why you should vote for as many people as you are allowed in the 11th District convention.
There are 7 candidates running for 3 spots on the State Central Committee in the 11th District, and also 7 candidates for 3 spots as Delegates to the Republican National Convention. Let's consider an example of 100 voters for simplicity. (We'll also ignore the weighting factors to keep it easy.)
Scenario 1: Half of the 100 delegates to the convention vote for only one candidate, and half vote full ballots. Therefore 200 total votes are cast (50*1 + 50*3 = 200). Here's an illustration of how those votes might be distributed:
In Scenario 1, even though candidates A, B, and C clearly have the most support, none of them get a majority (i.e. 51 votes out of 100 voters)! The convention must proceed to another round of voting and do this all over again from scratch. If you voted for candidate A in round 1 and didn't have time to stick around for voting round 2, then your vote becomes irrelevant in the second round.
Scenario 2: All 100 delegates to the convention vote for 3 State Central Candidates. Therefore 300 total votes are cast (100*3).Here's an illustration of how those votes might be distributed:
In Scenario 2, because there are more votes being cast, it is much more likely that 1-3 candidates will get at least 51 votes in the first round. Even though candidates A through E are pretty close together, A and B still get majorities and are seated on the first round. Candidates C, D, E, F, and G then proceed to the next round, but at that point the delegates will only be casting one vote to fill the one remaining seat.
If you came specifically to support Candidate A you might choose to not stay for the next round, because he or she has already been elected. On the other hand, if you came to support Candidate E, that person needs your one vote in subsequent voting rounds, which will continue until enough people change their votes or leave that one person gets a majority of votes in a round.
There are 7 candidates running for 3 spots on the State Central Committee in the 11th District, and also 7 candidates for 3 spots as Delegates to the Republican National Convention. Let's consider an example of 100 voters for simplicity. (We'll also ignore the weighting factors to keep it easy.)
Scenario 1: Half of the 100 delegates to the convention vote for only one candidate, and half vote full ballots. Therefore 200 total votes are cast (50*1 + 50*3 = 200). Here's an illustration of how those votes might be distributed:
| Candidate | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | Total |
| Votes | 50 | 45 | 40 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 200 |
In Scenario 1, even though candidates A, B, and C clearly have the most support, none of them get a majority (i.e. 51 votes out of 100 voters)! The convention must proceed to another round of voting and do this all over again from scratch. If you voted for candidate A in round 1 and didn't have time to stick around for voting round 2, then your vote becomes irrelevant in the second round.
Scenario 2: All 100 delegates to the convention vote for 3 State Central Candidates. Therefore 300 total votes are cast (100*3).Here's an illustration of how those votes might be distributed:
| Candidate | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | Total |
| Votes | 60 | 55 | 50 | 50 | 45 | 35 | 5 | 300 |
In Scenario 2, because there are more votes being cast, it is much more likely that 1-3 candidates will get at least 51 votes in the first round. Even though candidates A through E are pretty close together, A and B still get majorities and are seated on the first round. Candidates C, D, E, F, and G then proceed to the next round, but at that point the delegates will only be casting one vote to fill the one remaining seat.
If you came specifically to support Candidate A you might choose to not stay for the next round, because he or she has already been elected. On the other hand, if you came to support Candidate E, that person needs your one vote in subsequent voting rounds, which will continue until enough people change their votes or leave that one person gets a majority of votes in a round.
