But the Utah County Republican Party's bylaws give the precinct chairman a deadline, then strip the precinct chairman of that duty and give it to the district chairman, despite a provision in state party bylaws that "any provision" in a county party's bylaws "contrary to state law or to a specific provision of (the state party) Constitution is null and void."

Two replacement delegates chosen by a precinct chairman in House District 60 have been rejected by county party officials because they were named after the April 10 deadline set by the county party.

Utah Republican national committeewoman Nancy Lord called the extra Utah County rules "a scheme" and criticized the county party for stepping outside the state bylaws.

"It's just wrong and unfair," Lord said. "It allows party leaders to control who fills those seats rather than it be done on the precinct level."

Lockhart, the state party chairman, said the state rules are broad guidelines and that he didn't have a problem with the county adding a step to the process.

"It looks to me like all the county has done has simply put together an additional process to make sure they have the delegates each precinct deserves," he said.

Another rule unique to Utah County allows for what the county party calls "ex officio delegates" and what deGaston, Mike Ridgeway and others in a group critical of the county party establishment call "automatic delegates." The county party gives delegate status to elected officials such as legislators. That can add delegates in certain precincts and, the group believes, stack the deck in favor of incumbents.

DeGaston got the list of all the Utah County Republican delegates earlier this week so she could review it to see if her district was stacked to benefit Bramble over her and the other candidate, James O'Neal. Her voice mail was full Thursday, and she did not respond to multiple Deseret News e-mails requesting an interview.

The convention is critical in Utah politics. More than 1,200 delegates selected last month at hundreds of neighborhood caucus meetings will vote in nine Utah County legislative races on Saturday.

If one candidate in a race earns 60 percent or more of the vote, he or she wins the party's nomination and advances to the November general election. If no supermajority emerges, the top two candidates advance to the June primary.

DeGaston said in her release that she relented to the seating of Hannah Lockhart as a delegate because she wanted to encourage young people to participate in the political process. The teenager knew she would move between the time delegates were selected and the convention and asked Utah County Republican chairwoman Marian Monnahan for advice.