Saturday 24 March 2012: 20 of Louisiana's 46 delegates to the Republican National Convention are allocated to presidential contenders in today's Louisiana Presidential Primary. [Caucus and Convention Rules, Adopted May 21, 2011, Rule No. 19. (d) and 20. (b)]

• 20 National Convention Delegates are allocated proportionally according to the total statewide primary vote.
• The number of delegates bound to those candidates receiving 25% or more of the state wide vote is [20 delegates] × [candidate vote] ÷ [total statewide vote] rounded to the nearest whole number (rounding rules to handle too many or too few delegates are not known).
• If no candidate receives 25%, all 20 are unpledged.
• Any unallocated delegates will attend the Republican National Convention officially unpledged to any candidate. These delegates are elected at the State Convention where the participants at the State Convention will alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choice and, if so, how it is to be applied.

Saturday 28 April 2012: District Caucuses convene to choose delegates to the State Convention. The participants will alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choice and, if so, how it is to be applied.

22 April 2012: Louisiana Republican Party Announces Official Slates and Ballots.

28 April 2012:
dailypaul.com: Ron Paul Wins Louisiana.
nola.com: Ron Paul supporters dominate Louisiana's Republican presidential caucuses.
LA GOP: Preliminary Caucus Results.

policymic.com on 29 April 2012: Ron Paul Embarrasses Romney Campaign By Winning Louisiana Delegates "... Paul's campaign won 5 of the 6 Congressional Districts ... with a sixth district still up in the air. ... [E]stimates that upwards of 70% of the delegates to the Louisiana Republican Convention ... will be composed entirely Ron Paul supporters ... Romney took only 8% of the delegates ....

30 April 2012: 111 of the 150 (74%) delegates and 61 of the 72(85%) alternates elected to the State Convention appear to be supporters of Ron Paul. A majority of the delegates elected statewide and in CDs 1, 2, 5, and 6 supported Paul. CD 4 was split.

Saturday 2 June 2012: The State Convention convenes at 10 am in Shreveport to elect delegates to the Republican National Convention.

• 18 National Convention district delegates-- 3 from each of the state's 6 Congressional Districts are elected in the Congressional District meetings. The participants at the State Convention alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choice and, if so, how it is to be applied. These delegates are official designated as uncommitted. [Rule No. 19. (c) and 20. (a)]
• 20 National Convention At-Large delegates are elected according to the results of the primary. [Rule No. 19. (d) and 20. (b)]
• 5 National Convention delegates are nominated by the Executive Committee. These delegates are official designated as uncommitted. [Rule No. 19. (e) and 20. (b)]

The 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Louisiana's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unpledged delegates by virtue of their position.

From the Republican Party of Louisiana on 2 June 2012: Louisiana Republicans Elect National Convention Delegates. The State Convention elected 30 delegates to the Republican National Convention. Under party rules, Rick Santorum 10, Mitt Romney 5, Ron Paul 1. "The other 14 are technically unbound ... and are expected to support Governor Romney."

"Louisiana receives 46 votes at the national convention. Thirty were elected on Saturday. Three are automatic delegates. No one was nominated for the final thirteen positions, which were left vacant and may now be filled by the state party’s Executive Committee. The positions were left open by a majority of the delegates participating in the convention in order to facilitate talks with Ron Paul supporters who refused to participate in the convention in order to protest state party rules requiring presidential candidates to approve delegates allocated to them."

"Earlier this week, Rick Santorum sent a letter to state GOP Chairman Roger Villere asking, in essence, that the party prevent 'delegate stealing,' an informal term that describes the maneuver used by some presidential campaigns to put their supporters in spots won by opposing campaigns. The Romney campaign also sent a list of five official delegates and alternate delegates to Chairman Villere. The Party Executive Committee passed supplemental rules requiring that positions won by Santorum and Romney be filled with individuals approved by those campaigns."

From the Republican Party of Louisiana on 20 June 2012: Lawsuit Filed Against LAGOP.

"The Republican Party of Louisiana announced today that a lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in California’s Central District by more than 100 Ron Paul supporters and self-proclaimed delegates to the Republican National Convention."

"The suit, filed against the Republican National Committee and Chairman Reince Priebus and many state Republican parties across the country along with their respective chairmen, including Louisiana, alleges that the binding of national convention delegates is illegal under federal law and claims numerous violations of party rules."

"The Republican National Committee has agreed to provide a joint defense for all parties listed in the suit. “We view the suit as completely frivolous but one to which a serious response must be made,” said RNC Chief Legal Counsel John R. Phillippe Jr."

"We have joined with the RNC to fight this ridiculous, frivolous lawsuit. This is just another feeble attempt by Paul supporters to undermine the rules and systems in place, and we are going to take this very seriously,” said LAGOP Executive Director Jason Doré."

"If you would like to view review the document yourself, please click here."

From U.S. News on 4 June 2012: Ron Paul Snatches Half of Louisiana's Delegates. "Paul strategists say the Texas congressman ... captured 27 of the 46 delegates to which Louisiana is entitled."

From Daily Paul on 6 June 2012: Chaos? The Louisiana 2012 Republican State Convention Explained: Video.

On Friday 27 July 2012, the Louisiana Republican Party released this list of delegates. Soft Count: 45 Romney, 1 Paul (central committee member Wallace Lucas of Terrytown [CD 2]). Hard count: 31 unbound, 10 Santorum, 5 Romney. References: Republican Party of Louisiana on 27 July 2012: 2012 Louisiana Delegation to the Republican National Convention and The Times-Picayune of 27 July 2012: Louisiana GOP certifies convention delegation, sans Ron Paul supporters. Paul supporters are expected to challenge the allocations.

• District 1 - 3 unbound
• Bari Blanks - New Orleans - Unbound
• Suzanne Terrell - Metairie - Unbound
• Lenar Whitney - Houma - Unbound
• District 2 - 3 unbound
• Wallace Lucas - Terrytown - Unbound
• Bryan Wagner - New Orleans - Unbound
• George E. White - New Orleans - Unbound
• District 3 - 3 unbound
• Gwendolyn V. "Gwen" Bowen - Lafayette - Unbound
• Charlie Buckels - Lafayette - Unbound
• Jay Vincent Smith - Lafayette - Unboun
• District 4 - 3 unbound
• Rodney "Mike" Collier - Benton - Unbound
• Michael "Duke" Lowrie - Bossier City - Unbound
• Rickey Louis "Rick" Nowlin - Natchitoches - Unbound
• District 5 - 3 unbound
• Ambia Baker - Monroe - Unbound
• Adonica Duggan - Norwood - Unbound
• Gena Gore - Dry Prong - Unbound
• District 6 - 3 unbound
• Alexandra "Allee" Bautsch - Baton Rouge - Unbound
• Karen Connolly - Greenwell Springs - Unbound
• Jay Dardenne - Baton Rouge - Unbound
• At-Large - 5 Romney, 5 Unbound, 10 Santorum
• Michael Robert "Mike" Bayham - Chalmette - Santorum
• Rhett Davis - Walker - Santorum
• Joel Digrado - Baton Rouge - Santorum
• William J. "Bill" Dore - Lake Charles - Santorum
• Jason Paul Doré - Baton Rouge - Unbound
• Shane French - New Orleans - Romney
• Gordon Jeffrey "Jeff" Giles - Houma - Santorum
• Jonathan D. Johnson - Slidell - Unbound
• William Parkerson "Will" Mills - Lafayette - Santorum
• Warren Montgomery - Mandeville - Santorum
• Anthony "Tony" Perkins - Pride - Santorum
• Anne Price - Bossier City - Unbound
• Kyle Ruckert - Metairie - Santorum
• Stephen "Scott" Sewell - New
Orleans - Romney
• Eric Skrmetta - Metairie - Romney
• Michael G. "Mike" Strain - Covington - Romney
• S. Scott Wilfong - Baton
Rouge - Unbound
• Mark A. Wright - Covington - Santorum
• John F. Young - Jefferson - Romney
• Richard E. Zuschlag - Lafayette - Unbound
• Executive Committee - 5 unbound
• John A. "Jay" Batt - New Orleans - Unbound
• Harold Owen Coates - Shreveport - Unbound
• Robert L. "Bob" Livingston - New Orleans - Unbound
• Timothy "Timmy" Teepell - Baton Rouge - Unbound
• Mark Ulrich - Monroe - Unbound
• Republican National Committee 3 unbound
• Ross Little - Lafayette - Unbound
• Ruth Ulrich - Monroe - Unbound
• Roger Villere - Metairie - Unbound

On Tuesday 21 August 2012 the RNC and Ron Paul delegates reached a compromise. Charlie Davis, Ron Paul's Louisiana campaign chairman indicates that Paul will receive 17 delegates and Romney should receive the support of the remaining 29. Accordingly, we have changed our soft count from Romney 45, Paul 1 to Romney 29, Paul 17.

Notes:

A 12 March 2011 article in the The Times-Picayune says that the Republican State Central Committee unanimously approved a resolution asking the Legislature to move the Presidential Primary from February (see note on RS 18:1280.21 A above) to the 1st Saturday after the 1st Tuesday in March-- 10 March 2012.

The Times-Picayune 21 May 2011: Louisiana GOP crafts delegate plans for 2012 presidential convention.

Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (Republican) signed HB 509 on 28 June 2011. The law moves the presidential primary from the 2nd or 3rd Saturday in February to the 3rd Saturday following the 1st Tuesday in March.

An explanation of the LOUISIANA Republican National Convention delegate numbers as posted by The Green Papers on 24 March 2012. [This interpretation was discovered to be incorrect on 25 March 2012. Thanks to Matt at DemConWatch, Wayne Michael DeHart, and Jonathan Pinyan for bringing this to our attention. Our process and numbers have been updated accordingly. -Ed]

Rule 19(d) used in LOUISIANA reads as follows:

After the election of District Delegates..., the convention shall proceed to the election of twenty (20) at large delegates. After the election of at large delegates, the convention shall proceed to the election of twenty (20) at large alternate delegates.

Rule 20(b) used in LOUISIANA reads as follows:

At Large Delegates elected in accordance with Rule 19 (d) shall be allocated to a Presidential candidate only if a candidate receives at least 25% of votes in the Presidential Preference Primary. If a candidate receives at least 25% of the votes in the Presidential Preference Primary, that candidate shall be allocated at large delegates in proportion to the percentage of the votes received, rounded to the nearest delegate. If no candidate receives at least 25% of the votes in the Presidential Preference Primary, such at large delegates are designated as uncommitted. All other at large delegates shall be allocated and designated as uncommitted.

Interpretation on this website:

Rule 19 (d) designates 20 at-large delegates to be allocated to presidential candidates (or not) per Rule 20 (b); a presidential candidate has to get 25% of the vote to receive delegates; if a candidate meets that condition, the candidate is allocated at large delegates in proportion to the percentage of the vote received (this clearly implies that you re-proportion only among those candidates who actually get 25%); if *no* candidate gets 25% of the vote, such at large delegates [meaning all 20 per Rule 19 (d)] are uncommitted but this also means none of the 20 can be uncommitted if at least one candidate gets 25% of the vote. All other at large delegates [meaning only those at large delegates not included in Rule 19 (d)] are uncommitted in any event.

further Explanation:

It's all basic Legal Hermeneutics/Statutory Construction 101-- sentences must be read, and then construed, in sequence:

1. A STOP sign is a red octagonal sign with the letters S T O P;

2. When a motor vehicle comes to a STOP sign, it must come to a full and complete stop;

3. A YIELD sign is an upside down triangle at which a vehicle can continue to go forward if no other vehicle is coming: a complete stop is not required.

What is in sentence 2 above is read as a follow on to sentence 1 but is not modified at all by sentence 3 (furthermore, it is impossible to come to a complete stop and not come to a complete stop at the same time): it is the same thing here!

The first two sentences in Rule 20(b) relate to what to do if at least one candidate gets 25%; the third relates to what to do if no candidate gets 25%-- because of where the second sentence is placed, it relates to sentence 1 but not to sentence 3: therefore, you have to read the allocation rules in sentence 2 in direct relation to sentence 1, not sentence 3 (one has to assume that the sentences appear in the order in which they appear for a reason!)

In addition, sentence 2 begins with the words "If a candidate receives at least 25% of the votes..." while sentence 3 begins "If no candidate receives at least 25% of the votes": thus, the allocation rules in sentence 2 cannot possibly be related to sentence 3 because a candidate cannot receive at least 25% of the vote in the same election in which no candidate receives at least 25% of the vote... this would be a complete impossibility!

Finally: if 20 delegates are available [as is the case per Rule 19(d)], a 25% threshold is required in order to be allocated said delegates [per Rule 20(b)], and candidate A (of several) gets 50% of the vote while candidate B gets 25% (and no other candidate reaches that threshold), "in proportion to the percentage of the vote" would have to mean that A gets 50/75 of the 20 delegates while B gets 25/75 of the 20 delegates...

if, on the other hand, it were intended that A get only 50/100 of the 20 while B gets 25/100 of the 20, Rule 20(b) would not have even used the phrase "in proportion to" because the percentage of the (total) vote would, in such a case, simply be used "straight up"-- that is: "as is"-- no calculation of proportionality would even then be at all necessary!

An alternate interpretation of the Republican Party of Louisiana's Rules 19(d) and 20(b) can be found at Josh Putnam's Frontloading HQ - 2012 Republican Delegate Allocation: Louisiana. This method of allocation gives Santorum 10, Romney 5, and Uncommitted 5 delegates. See The Boston Globe's Santorum picks up delegates with win in Louisiana.