A RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE DATE OF THE 2012 COLORADO REPUBLICAN PRECINCT CAUCUSES

WHEREAS, Colorado will be among a small handful of targeted, swing states that will decide the outcome of the 2012 Presidential contest; WHEREAS, the Republican candidates who demonstrate that they are able to secure the support of Colorado voters in a targeted, swing-state are more likely to effectively compete and win in the General Election; WHEREAS, the additional attention, Presidential candidate visits, and interest that Colorado is likely to draw by holding our Republican Precinct Caucuses in February rather than in March will encourage a substantially greater number of Colorado Republican voters to participate in our Precinct Caucuses, helping our county party committees and our local candidates more effectively recruit from a larger number of potential activists, volunteers, and donors; WHEREAS, the additional attention, Presidential candidate visits, and interest that Colorado is likely to draw by holding our Republican Precinct Caucuses in February rather than in March will help the Colorado Republican Party attract more women, Hispanics, and younger voters, as well as the traditional members of our Republican coalition, to participate in a process where their voices and input will be directly heard in the Presidential nomination process, in local candidate selection, and in the development of our Republican Party Platform; WHEREAS, holding our Republican Precinct Caucuses in February rather than in March will permit Republican candidates who may be less well known and who may have fewer resources to run a national campaign to compete in Colorado by building and mobilizing a volunteer organization and effort to encourage their supporters to attend grassroots caucus meetings, which volunteer organization will be critical to securing victory for the eventual Republican nominee; WHEREAS, holding our Republican Precinct Caucuses in February rather than in March will afford our local county party committees up to fifty days from the date of the Precinct Caucuses in which to plan, prepare for, and run local county assemblies, rather than twenty-five days, in accordance with amendments recently adopted to 1-4-602, Colorado Revised Statutes, by Senate Bill 11-189; WHEREAS, while Colorado will ultimately select its National Delegates to the Republican National Convention at the State Assembly and Convention and the Congressional District Assemblies and Conventions to be held in April of 2012, the process of delegate selection simply begins with local Precinct Caucuses which do not constitute a binding National Delegate selection event; WHEREAS, while certain other states select or allocate their National Delegates to the Republican National Convention by means of binding caucuses, binding assemblies, or Presidential primary elections that award, allocate, or bind their National Delegates on a proportional or winner-takeall basis, the Colorado Republican Party does not select or allocate its National Delegates in such a manner, and thus is able to move the date of our Republican Precinct Caucuses to occur in February

without any penalty or loss of voting delegates which may otherwise be imposed in accordance with Rule 15(b) of the Rules of the Republican National Committee; and WHEREAS, Colorado Revised Statutes section 1-3-102 (1)(a)(III) specifically provides that: In a year in which a presidential election will be held, a political party may, by decision of its state central committee, hold its precinct caucuses on the first Tuesday in February; THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COLORADO REPUBLICAN STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE, that the 2012 Republican Precinct Caucuses shall be held in each County in the State of Colorado beginning at 7:00 p.m. on February 7th, 2012 - the First Tuesday in February in the year in which the 2012 Presidential Election will be held; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the principal purposes of such Republican Precinct Caucuses shall be to conduct a non-binding Presidential Preference Poll, to elect two (2) Republican precinct committeepersons, to select delegates and alternate delegates to the corresponding Republican county assembly and/or convention, to select delegates and alternate delegates to such higher district and state assemblies and/or conventions as may be allocated to the precinct by the respective Republican county central committee or county executive committee, to consider resolutions and matters concerning the Platform of the Colorado Republican Party, and to conduct all other necessary and appropriate business of the Precinct Caucus; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chairman of the Colorado Republican State Central Committee is directed to notify the Colorado Secretary of State and the clerk and recorder of each county in the State of this decision within five days after the adoption of this Resolution, in accordance with 1-3-102 (1)(a)(III), C.R.S., and to notify the Republican National Committee in accordance with the applicable Rules of the Republican Party on or before October 1, 2011.

Respectfully submitted, John Suthers of El Paso County Colorado Attorney General