SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Republican Party's methodology to pick convention delegates for presidential candidates is confusing, but suffice to say, a vote for the presidential candidate of your choice isn't enough. GOP voters also need to find on their ballots and then vote for the delegates that support your presidential pick. Their names are in parenthesis next to the delegate that will represent them at the convention.
All 69 of Illinois' delegates to the Republican National Convention will be bound to Presidential Candidates based on the results of Tuesday's Illinois Presidential Primary. Of those 69, 54 delegates are elected as one of the three delegates they want to represent their congressional district. The presidential votes are simply advisory.
Those 54 delegates – 3 per congressional district – are listed on the ballot with the names of their preferred presidential candidates next to their names.
In addition, twelve national convention statewide delegates are bound winner-takes-all to the presidential candidate that receives the largest number of votes statewide. These twelve delegates do not appear on the primary ballot. These twelve are chosen at the 2016 Illinois Republican Party Convention, scheduled for May 20 through 22 in Peoria.
Finally the state's three party leaders – the National Committeeman, National Committeewoman and the IL GOP Chairman – will attend the National Convention and are bound to the candidate that receives the most votes in the primary.
