Friday 9 September 2011: About 900 participated in the Maryland Republican Party's 2011 Presidential Straw Poll at the Maryland State Fair in Timonium. Poll results are as follows:

Rick Perry – 25.8%,
Mitt Romney – 21.2%,
Ron Paul – 16.8%,
Michele Bachmann – 12.5%,
Sarah Palin – 7.2%,
Cain – 5.0%,
Other/Write-Ins – 4.4%,
Newt Gingrich – 2.3%,
Jon Huntsman – 2.2%,
Rick Santorum – 1.4%,
Buddy Roemer – 0.5%,
Gary Johnson – 0.3%,
Thaddeus McCotter – 0.3%.

Only registered voters in the State of Maryland who are affiliated with the Republican Party shall be eligible to vote in the Republican Primary. [Maryland Republican Party Resolution Delegates & Alternates Elected to 2012 Republican National Convention 2.]

Tuesday 3 April 2012: All 37 of Maryland's delegates to the Republican National Convention are allocated to presidential contenders in today's Maryland Presidential Primary. [Resolutions 2., 3., and 4.]

• 24 district delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the 8 congressional districts: each congressional district is assigned 3 National Convention delegates and the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in that district will receive all 3 of that district's National Convention delegates. The National Convention District delegates are directly elected on the primary ballot. Each voter chooses up to 3 delegates and the 3 highest vote getters are elected.
• 10 at-large delegates (10 base at-large delegates plus 0 bonus delegates) are to be allocated to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide.
• The 3 RNC party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Maryland's Republican Party, will attend the convention, by virtue of their position, bound to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide.

The delegates are bound for the first 2 ballots. Delegates are no longer bound if the candidate either releases the delegates or receives less than 35% of the vote at the National Convention. [Resolution 4.]

Friday 27 April - Saturday 28 April 2012: Spring Convention. The Spring Convention elects 10 At-Large National Convention according to the results of the primary. Each participant chooses up to 10 delegates and the 10 highest vote getters are elected.

Notes:

4 February 2011: Senator Roy Dyson (Democratic) introduced SB 501 which would move the Presidential primary from the second Tuesday in February to the first Tuesday in March April (modified 28 March 2011) and move the regular Primary from the second Tuesday after the first Monday in September to the second Tuesday in July last Tuesday in June (modified 28 March 2011).

9 February 2011: Senators Robert Garagiola (Democratic) and Nancy Jacobs (Republican) introduced SB820 which would move the Presidential primary from the second Tuesday in February to the first Tuesday in April and move the regular Primary from the second Tuesday after the first Monday in September to the last Tuesday in June. The companion bill is HB 671 by state Delegates Michael Erin Busch (Democratic), Kumar P. Barve (Democratic), and Anthony J. O'Donnell (Republican).

On 10 May 2011, Governor Martin O'Malley (Democratic) signed HB 671. This bill changes the dates for the Presidential and partisan primaries to the first Tuesday in April in Presidential election years. In non-Presidential election years, the partisan primary is held on the last Tuesday in June.

HB 671 was introduced by state Delegates Michael Erin Busch (Democratic), Kumar P. Barve (Democratic), and Anthony J. O'Donnell (Republican) on 9 February 2011. On that same date, the companion bill, SB820 was introduced by Senators Robert Garagiola (Democratic) and Nancy Jacobs (Republican).