Donald Trump is expected to win West Virginia's voters on May 10, but Ted Cruz could end up taking most of the state's delegates because of a complex delegate election process that includes strict new voting laws and which has in the past stacked the convention delegates whose last names come at the beginning of the alphabet.
"Not even Einstein could easily understand the selection process today," Mike Stuart, a former West Virginia GOP head, who serves as Trump's campaign chairman in the state, told
Politico. "The delegate selection system is intentionally complicated, making it extremely hard for voters to control the commitment of delegates to any particular candidate. I think the selection process for West Virginia not only is bad; it may be the worst in the country."
The Mountain State's
GOP ballot is six pages long and puts delegate elections behind those for state and local races, and if voters stick around long enough to choose delegates, that's where the confusion starts.
There are more than 220 people seeking just 22 statewide slots as convention delegates. They are first divided on the ballot based on the candidates they support, and then they're listed alphabetically, with 31 possibles for Trump, 36 for Cruz, and 10 for Kasich.
Yet another list is for 27 delegates who are not committed, and to add the confusion, there are also lists for candidates like Marco Rubio or Chris Christie who are no longer in the race.
Voters can choose up to 22 Trump delegates, if they wish, but if they pick 23, their delegates ballot is thrown out.
Also, no more than two delegates from a single county can be picked, nor can more than seven from one Congressional district. However, those rules are not listed on the ballot, so voters must be aware of that before they vote.
And for Trump, nine of the first 22 names under his list come from Kanawha County, the state's most populated area and home of Charleston, the state capital. So if Trump backers pick all nine of those delegates, seven of them would be automatically disqualified.
Meanwhile, since voters pick the first 22 names associated with their candidate, they often just choose going down the list, resulting in delegations stacked with representatives last names start with the letters A to C.
Stuart said the campaign is ready to question results, and plans to work overtime to educate voters in a state where Trump is expected to win the popular vote easily, with poll numbers showing him at twice the support Cruz has.
Cruz's campaign, though, has been working hard to attract West Virginia's conservatives, including attracting well-known elected officials as delegates for his side.
In addition, Cruz is pushing for support in the coal-powered state, including appearing earlier this month at a fundraiser in Wheeling, West Virginia, personally sponsored by coal magnate Robert Murray, the chairman, president, and CEO of Murray Energy, reports
The Intelligencer in Wheeling.
Murray emphasized that he, not his company, was holding the event and that he has not yet endorsed Cruz's candidacy.
But the complicated delegate selection process could also cause Cruz difficulties, even though his first 22 delegates on the ballot are more evenly split than Trump's.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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