Voting For Delegates A Confusing Matter For Republican Voters
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's easy for Republicans to vote for president in the so-called beauty contest -- Ted Cruz, John Kasich, or Donald Trump.
But the delegates are a whole other story.
"Confusing," says Ben Brenner of McCandless.
"I just wasn't sure what to do," adds Jane McQuaid of McCandless.
No surprise, especially for Republicans, because nothing on the GOP ballot tells you which presidential candidate the delegate candidates support.
The 54 Republican delegates elected, three from each congressional district, run unpledged and are free to vote at the convention for whomever they want.
"I think the way it's done is terrible," says Republican voter Dale Borway.
He says that takes away the voters' right to pick the presidential nominee, Borway told KDKA political editor Jon Delano.
Delano: "There's no indication there who those delegates will support?"
Borway: "That's right. Exactly. That's what I'm against. My vote should count. Your vote should count, and that's the way it should be. Not some bunch of delegates sitting in a room voting."
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Of course, some delegate candidates have said they will vote for Trump, Cruz, or Kasich, but voters many not know that.
So what's a Republican voter to do?
Check out your presidential candidate's website or even the local newspapers to find out which delegate candidate supports which presidential nominee.
But, remember, they're allowed to change their minds before the convention.
Both the Trump and Cruz campaigns produced their own slate of candidates, and one volunteer was handing out the Trump delegate slate card in McCandless, while the local party had its own slate.
But for Republicans it's quite possible that one candidate will win the primary but lose the delegates, which is what happened in 1980 when George Herbert Walker Bush won the state primary but Ronald Reagan won the unpledged delegates.
As Republican voter Ben Brenner put it, "All the millions of people that vote, and the way this thing could end up at the convention in Cleveland, all that may not count."
And that could make a lot of people angry.
