Republicans change primary rules to keep voters

The US Republican Party has modified the rules for its presidential nomination race to maintain voters' interest in its election campaign.

The party told its state organizations to ditch the winner-takes-all method, which has been adopted by almost all states. About one-third have agreed to the change.

Under the current system, the candidate who garners the most votes in a primary or a caucus takes all of the state's delegates in the national party convention. This method does not reflect the actual number of votes won by each candidate.

Republicans have decided to modify the rules because the previous nomination race effectively ended in just one month. Many Republican supporters lost interest in the process.

In contrast, the Democratic Party had a heated competition until the last moment between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Next year, Republicans will hold caucuses and primaries in or after April in more than 20 states, which is nearly double the figure for the previous time. This is also aimed at keeping voters interested.

Sunday, November 06, 2011 23:06 +0900 (JST)