Delegates Unbound: Read this Free, Online BookAs this book demonstrates, this principle has been embedded within the rules of the party established at the first national nominating convention held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1856, recognizing that each
and every delegate to the national convention had a full and unfettered right to vote as he wished on matters ranging from approval of rules, credential challenges, whether to uphold or overturn rulings of the chair and perhaps most importantly, on the nomination of the Republican Party’s candidate for president and vice president of the United States.
This will likely come as a surprise to many, accustomed to hearing that delegates to the convention are allocated to one candidate or another based on the results of a primary, caucus, or other event, or media counts of how many delegates are officially bound to vote for a specific candidate at the convention, or speculation on how delegates might vote if a second ballot or even more are required to select a nominee.
But as this book makes clear, delegates to the Republican National Convention have had, at every convention from 1856 through 2012, the full freedom to vote their consciences on all matters recognized and protected in the convention rules – with the single notable exception of 1976, when the campaign of incumbent President Gerald Ford pushed through a change in the rules as part of a strategy to deny the nomination
to former California Gov. Ronald Reagan.
This conclusion is based on a careful historical analysis of the official records of the Republican National Convention and Republican National Committee, such as rules committee meeting transcripts and the official
proceedings, as well as academic research and contemporaneous media accounts. As documented here, both the rules and rulings from the convention chair on the matter have consistently upheld this right, and the
statements of delegates and rules committee members consistently state the purpose of what are now Rule 37 (b) and 38, which is to preserve and protect the freedom of delegates to vote their consciences in all matters.