An article in the daily paper back in early 1930’s detailed how the Knox County Republican Party would organize by precinct.
Now in recent times, for the past couple of party reorganizations the party has not organized by precinct. There is a groundswell of support to return to the precinct organizational structure.
Fix Number of Delegates for Each Precinct
Rogera Prepares for Vote on April 22 for Knox Meet of Republicans.
A complete certified list of the number of votes cast for Herbert Hoover in 1928 and the number of delegate from each precinct to the county Republican convention, April 23, was announced today by E. N. Rogers, county chairman.
These delegates, in convention, will nominate a candidate for Second Circuit Court Judge, tax assessor, trustee and sheriff.
Every voting precinct is entitled to one delegate for every 25 votes or majority fraction cast for Hoover in 1928.
Elections will be held in the city precincts between 7 and 9 p.m. and in the rural between 1 and 2 p.m., with the exception of of a few rural precincts, which hold theirs from 7 to 9 p.m., as has been customary.
If members of the County Executive Committee are present they shall hold the election, but if not a majority of the Republicans present shall appoint one officer and two clerks who shall hold the election.
Rogers statement:
”Every bona fide Republican of voting age or who will have arrived at the age of 21 prior to the August 4, 1932, shall be entitled to cast his vote in the selection of delegates from his or her respective precinct, there being no poll tax or registration qualifications necessary to vote.
”Do not however confuse this convention with the mass convention for the selection of delegates to the State Convention which convention will be held April 30. A majority of the vote of the convention will be necessary to nominate any candidate for any office.
The votes cast for Herbert Hoover and the number of delegates to which each precinct is entitled follow, according to certified list prepared by Secretary of Knox County Election Commission:
There are rumors that the “new” crowd let the precinct system lapse so they could bring allies to the conventions and elect the extreme officers. The appointed chair of the Credentials Committee at the last convention was so unfamiliar with local Republicans, she challenged a past GOP state Rep. Then she gives $10,000 to the new Chairman’s consulting group when she registered to run against an incumbent Republican on County Commissioner. A corrupt enterprise.
False rumors circulated to undermine the growth and a return to conservative values. Be honest Ray, you and I had this conversation a number of years ago. The practice of simply publishing a book of names and phone numbers and calling it a day had been a standard for more than 20 years. Half of the precincts were void of any membership. Billy Stokes publicly admitted such. Truth be told it was by design. Precincts were required to meet and elect delegates ahead of convention. The vast majority did not. The number of delegates being based on votes cast during a presidential election cycle, a fact that seemed to escape many peoples memory. the number of delegates afforded each precinct was based on some best guess method of what was printed in the last book. I have copies of old books, while many of them contain stalwart conservatives, they clearly show the falsehood of your assertion that somehow the precinct model was destroyed by the “new” crowd. Don’t even get me started on Contest and Credentials, I know far to much about what how that process worked and the number of hours spent correcting the way the party conducts its business and bringing it back into compliance with state party by-laws.