Tuesday’s Florida primary is complicated by the fact that the delegate selection process isn’t completely decided,
the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) granted four states the right to hold primaries or caucuses before March 6 -- Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. It also ruled that any state holding its primary/caucus before March 6 must award delegates proportionally.
Any state that broke the calendar rule would forfeit half its delegates and possibly suffer further punishment. Republican leaders in Florida were so intent on holding an early primary that they decided it was worth losing half their delegates – going to 50 from 99.
Under those circumstances, the RNC allowed Florida to use a winner-take-all system for delegates. But that decision is subject to challenge.
And Marc Cross, a GOP state committeeman from Osceola County, already has urged a review by the RNC, the Times reports. The request will be considered in August, and John Ryder, an RNC member from Tennessee who helped write the rules, says Florida should be forced to use a proportional system.
"When we come to Tampa next summer, I'm sure the members of the state Legislature expect us to follow the laws of the state of Florida,” he told the Times. "And when the people of Florida come to the national convention, they're expected to follow the rules of the RNC."
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.