Delaware Plan - The Plan

The Plan

The Delaware Plan is an attempt to provide states with meaningful input into the electoral process. The states and territories are divided into four groups, by population. The smallest 12 states and all the territories by population would be the first group, or "pod". The smallest thirteen of the remaining states would be the second group, the next thirteen the third group, and the largest twelve states would form the final group.

The first group, consisting of the smallest states, would vote on one day in March. Though small, they would clearly play a major role in providing momentum to successful candidates. And, as small states, a candidate with limited resources might well find it easier to run the type of door-to-door campaign traditionally run in New Hampshire. However, unlike the current system, it would be difficult for a campaign without large resources to run in all states, as these small states are as widely spread (from Delaware to Alaska) as any in the nation.

The second and third groups would vote on a single day in April and May, respectively. The meaningfulness of their role in the process is secured by the fact that no candidate will be able to achieve a majority of delegates even by the end of the third group's vote in May. Every delegate won will be attached to a candidate that is guaranteed to still be "in the running".

The fourth group, that of the largest states, vote on a single day in June. These twelve states, though needing to wait to vote last, will nonetheless determine the winner, as between them they control more than 50% of the delegates to the national conventions. (Thus, even a last minute entry into the campaign could theoretically win the nomination even if he only ran at the end.) By voting together as a bloc, none of the large states is rendered irrelevant (as was the case for California from 1976 to 2000, after which California moved its voting up to an earlier date).