W.Va. GOP Convention Update

Midnight marks the end of online voting to decide some 419 contested "at-large" seats to the state Republican Party's Feb. 5 presidential convention.

A dozen counties also held local conventions to settle these races. As The Associated Press reports, "initial figures show that a relative handful of party members have gained considerable sway over who among them gets to participate Feb 5."

"Party members have until midnight to cast online ballots in these at-large races," AP explains. "But to be eligible to vote this way, they had to register by Nov. 30. Less than 1,700 did so in those 30 counties" with contested at-large seats.

A review of online voters who also filed to be state convention delegates (and pledged to particular candidates) "suggests that (Mike) Huckabee is favored to pick up at-large seats in Wayne County, while Fred Thompson should add to his margin in Nicholas County," AP reports.

"Thompson also has a sizable portion of delegates eligible to vote in Berkeley, as does (Mitt) Romney in Kanawha County and Ron Paul in Jefferson and Monongalia counties," the article continues. "Delegate-voters are not the majority in any of those four, however."

Convention organizers expect to have voting results tallied by Wednesday, and that should pare down the delegate roster from 1,564 names to about 1,213. Pending those results, Romney leads the field both in total delegate filings (244) and guaranteed minimum delegates (123).