Only Voters registered as Republican are eligible to participate in the County Caucuses. Voters may register at the caucus. [Rules FAQ 3 & 5.]

On Saturday 16 July 2011, the Idaho Republican Party Central Committee voted to use caucuses, rather than the Tuesday 15 May 2012 Primary, to begin their National Convention Delegate Selection Process. Reference: 19 July 2011: Idaho GOP Adopts Presidential Caucus to be held on Super Tuesday.

Tuesday 6 March 2012: All 32 of Idaho's National Convention delegates are pledged to Presidential contenders based on the vote in today's County Caucuses.

• The Idaho Nomination Caucus shall be held on the first Tuesday allowed by the Republican National Committee ... without incurring a penalty [Party Rules Article V Section 1:].

In each county, voting takes place by secret ballot in successive rounds. Voting continues until either a single candidate receives greater than 50% of the vote, or until only 2 candidates remain on the ballot and a final vote is taken. After each round, remove any candidate receiving less than 15% then remove the candidate receiving the fewest votes. [Rules Article V Section 7:]

• Any candidate winning more than 50% or more of a county's vote will be awarded that entire county's share of National Delegates.
• When neither candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the candidates split the county's share of National Convention Delegates, in proportion to the candidates' county vote totals [Rules Article VI Section 4:].

Add the candidate's shares for all counties and round to the nearest whole number to obtain the number of National Convention Delegates pledged to that candidate. [Rules Article VI Section 5:]

• If one candidate wins more than 50% of the National Convention Delegates, that candidate receives all the National Convention Delegates [Rule Article VI Section 5:]
• If the computation results in an unallocated Delegate, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes receives an additional delegate.
• If the computation results in the allocation of more Delegates than are available, the candidate receiving the least number of Caucus votes is reduced accordingly.

Each county's share of the National Convention Delegates is calculated by multiplying (the county's percentage of County Delegates allocated to the State Convention) by 32 (the number of National Convention Delegates) [Rules Article VI Section 3].

8 March 2012: Idaho Republican Party Announces 2012 Caucus Results

"Boise, Idaho – The Idaho Republican Party announced its Caucus results today, with Mitt Romney declared the winner of the 2012 Idaho Republican Party Presidential Caucus. By winning over 50% of the counties' proportion of delegates, Mitt Romney will therefore receive all of Idaho's 32 delegates to the Republican National Convention. Across the state, over 44,000 enthusiastic Idaho Republicans made history by participating in the first ever Idaho Republican Party Presidential Caucus."

"I congratulate Mitt Romney on his victory in the Idaho Republican Party’s first ever Presidential Caucus" stated Chairman Norm Semanko. Semanko continued, "For the first time in many years, Idaho Republicans played a key role in the Republican Presidential nomination process, and we look forward to making Barack Obama a one-term President."

"The county delegate results with 100% of counties reporting are as follows:

Mitt Romney: 24.72 => 25
Rick Santorum: 4.1 => 4
Ron Paul: 3.16 => 3
Newt Gingrich: 0
Buddy Roemer: 0

Total Delegates: 31.98 => 32.

"Due to Article VI, Section 5 of the Rules of the Idaho Republican Party pertaining to Apportionment and Selection of Delegates to the Republican National Convention, once certified, Mitt Romney will receive all of Idaho's 32 delegates."

Tuesday 15 May 2012 (cancelled): Idaho Republican non-binding Primary. Today's primary is advisory and is not used to bind delegates.

16 July 2011: Idaho GOP opts for caucus, drops presidential primary from The Spokesman-Review.

1 March 2012: Governor C.L. Butch Otter (Republican) signed H391. The bill abolishes the 2012 Presidential Primary.

Thursday 21 June - Saturday 23 June 2012: The Idaho State Republican Convention convenes in Twin Falls.

No later than 30 days before the State Convention, each Presidential candidate prepares a list of proposed National Convention delegates. 80% of the the National Convention delegates ( 80% of 32 = 25.6 which rounds to 26 delegates ) are selected from this list. 20% ( 20% of 32 = 6.4 which rounds to 6 delegates ) are elected by the Nominations Committee. [Rules Article VI Section 7:]

... Delegates ... shall be obliged on the first ballot taken at the Republican National Convention to vote for the candidate who nominated them, provided any Delegates selected as representing the "uncommitted" choice shall be free to cast their vote for any candidate whose name has been placed in nomination before the Republican National Convention. In the event of death or withdrawal ... or release of Delegates by a candidate prior to the first ballot ... Delegates committed to such a candidate ... become uncommitted [Rule Article VI Sections 8 & 9].

Notes:

Idaho House Bill 14 (introduced 18 January 2011) and HB 60 (introduced 26 January 2011) changes the state' s Partisan and the Presidential Primaries from the 4th to the 3rd Tuesday in May-- 15 May 2012. HB 60 was signed by Governor Butch Otter on 23 February 2011. Statutory Election Information.

2 March 2011 from Times-News MagicValley.com: District Judge B. Lynn Winmill rules Idaho's open primaries unconstitutional. The GOP can restrict their primaries to Republicans. [Idaho Republican Party v Ysursa, 08-cv-165].

On 13 April 2011, Governor Butch Otter signed House Bill 351. This bill allows a party to decide on whether to hold an open, closed, or modified open primary.

19 January 2012: Election bill HB 391 would abolish the 2012 Presidential primaries (neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will nominate delegates in 2012 by primary). HB 392 abolishes the Presidential primaries and moves the statewide primary for other offices from May to August.

9 February 2012: Idaho House of Representatives passes HB 391 56-12.