Current Delegate Count

As I write this we are deep into the count for the delegates to the political conventions. I've found it difficult to keep track of who is where and I've developed this page to (hopefully) keep track of things. At any given time the news organizations have different numbers; let me explain how I got mine.

There are catagories of delegates and the rules are different depending on the kind of delegate. Briefly, here is how is looks:

• Pledged Delegates: These are delegates chosen by the voters in either by caucas or primary vote. They are required to vote for the candidate they are pledged to, at least on the first ballot.
• Superdelegates: These are delegates who are guaranteed seats at the convention. They are often party members who are in elected offices in the state (e.g. Senators or U.S. Representatives) or are party leaders in their own right (e.g. bigwigs in their respective parties). These men and women may have (and have declared) a preference but they are not required to cast their vote until the convention. Their votes are up for grabs until the minute they decide at the convention. I haven't counted them because we can't be sure they won't change their mind. As a true doubting Thomas I won't count them until the convention.
• Delegates in states that are not counted: This year Florida and Michigan decided to move up their primaries to give their votets more of a say in the nomination. Neither party was happy with this; the Repulican Party allotted them only half their delegates in punishment. The Democrats announced that none of the delegates from those states would be seated in the convention. This isn't much of a problem in the Republican Party as John McCain is the presumptive nominee. On the other hand, given the tight Democratic Race between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama every vote may count. There are discussions and negotiations about a "do over" but nothing has been settled. If the Democrats seat their delegates I'll put them in my table.

This table reflects the pledged delegates from the primaries and caucases as determined by National Public Radio.