newsminer.com

Alaska delegates awarded to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Super Tuesday will likely go to Arizona Sen. John McCain at the Republican Convention this summer.

“My current understanding is that they’ve been instructed to vote for McCain,” said state party chairman Randy Ruedrich.

Under party rules, the delegates are only bound to the candidate they were awarded to, in this case, Romney, who won the Alaska vote by a wide margin. Once released by his campaign, they are actually free to vote for whichever candidate they so choose, but usually vote for the candidate they are asked to support.

Ruedrich said the party is still waiting for the Romney campaign to officially release his delegates with a written statement, which is expected to come in the next two weeks.

Romney won 44 percent of the popular vote in Alaska’s presidential preference poll, and was awarded 12 delegates. McCain came in a distant fourth place with 15 percent of the popular vote and received three delegates.

The Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place Sept. 1-4 in Minneapolis.

Are there any Alaska voters out there upset that despite their votes, McCain is still getting the most Alaska delegates?